Sydney firm Cliff Lewis Printing has installed a Fuji Xerox Versant 2100, moved to a new premises nearly doubling its floor space, and hiring three more staff to celebrate 40-years in print. From the humble beginnings at the family shed, the company has grown successfully for the past four decades with Cliff Lewis’s son, Adam and Matthew taking over the company.
Sons take over: Cliff, Matt and Adam Lewis
Speaking with Australia Printer from the factory floor as party goers enjoyed a glass of wine and h’orderves, Matthew Lewis, national sales manager for the company, says he can’t believe how quickly time has passed. Lewis says, “It has all happened pretty quickly, after outgrowing our other place we looked around for somewhere that suited us and somewhere we could buy and stay in for a while. “This is our fifth move. The last place we moved in was a factory that when we drove in we thought we will never outgrow this, and it wasn’t long before we got the lease for the factory next door and continued growing. “But after 20 years we were feeling the squeeze again as the previous building was 450sqm and a lot smaller offices for two buildings. This is just over a third bigger, 800sqm floor and 600sqm offices, but it’s the way we want it and we are not a rabbit warren like before.” He says the demand for digital colour prints also encouraged the company to upgrade its BW Fuji Xerox press for the Versant. Lewis says, “It was a great step to get the Versant because we had the other colour press in the previous place and now we can do short run six pages as well, and it just fits like a glove in our business model. “Gone are the days when you say that if you want a good job done you have to get it done on an offset.”
Birthday bash: The family celebrate 40-years in print
While the company runs two shifts to supplement the demand for fast turnarounds with its Kimori and Heidelberg presses, which Lewis says fits well with the A2, A3 work that they do, he says digital has been growing rapidly. Lewis says, “Digital is definitely growing fast. When we put in the first colour press nearly one and half years ago, we doubled the runs on it because of the quality and thickness of stock, we could take a lot of jobs of the A3 machines. “So really it works well. And while it only accounts for 15 to 20 per cent of the total business revenue, for profitability digital is high up.” He says the company will also expand its man power with three extra staff members, who will join the 30 employees of the company. “We are hiring three more staff; one apprentice, one guillotine operator and a junior in internal sales,” Lewis says. “We are also changing the five-colour A2 machine in the next 12-months to put an eight colour in.” He says the success of any company is on its ability to differentiate itself not by the number of presses it has but by developing relationships with clients. Lewis says, “Anyone that has a good machine is a great printer so you can’t say don’t go to them because they are not a good printer they don’t have the right machinery. “I think it comes down to customer service, saying and doing what you said, communication with your customers and fast turnarounds. And if you do that then you will have the customers come back to you. “We don’t sit there and slash prices, we are competitive and we do what we say we will do.”
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