Big Picture - May 2019 - 10

demanding exact color matching, wide-format hardware and
software developers from Teckwin to PrintFactory are adding
renewed focus to this area. "How do we apply color matching
to automation? To textiles and ICC profiles?" asked Onyx
Graphics' Jonathan Rogers, international marketing manager.
The Big Picture team turned to the OEMs for some answers.
With the launch of HP's dye sub printers comes HP Smart
Printing cloud-based technology and a built-in spectrophotometer for matching colors across multiple HP machines.
Roland DGA's TrueVis VG2 printer/cutter series boasts
new inks and color modes (including orange ink as a process
color) designed to offer users a wider gamut and more
detailed color reproduction.
Agfa's Asanti workflow with PrintTune hub aims to
manage production across all wide-format devices, increasing color consistency and quality for all presses - for Agfa
and other OEM machines.
SAi's Flexi 19 signmaking software offers new tools
engineered to maximize color: Improved Spot Color Mapping
allows users to build custom libraries of spot colors for
repeatability and a Pantone Fine-Tune Spot Color Matching
Tool offers precise color matching from ICC profiles.

Onyx 19, expected to be released this summer,
also features new color management tools engineered to
achieve consistent color across the shop floor. Highlights
include simulation workflows for consistent color across
devices, improved color for all existing media profiles, color
management automation with QuickSets, and the ability to
build DeviceLink+ profiles without the need for color
management training.
FLATBED RENAISSANCE
A number of manufacturers noted a resurgence in the
flatbed printer realm; Hutcheson attributes the growth to the
rising popularity of object, dimensional, and two-sided
printing. "Flatbeds are coming back," said Kevin Duffy,
Vycom VP sales and marketing, because of their "ability to be
creative and do unique things to stand out in the market."
Among the OEMs displaying flatbed presses were Agfa,
with the Anapurna FB2540i LED; Roland, showcasing the
small-format VersaUV LEF2-200 flatbed UV printer, a
smaller-footprint version of the large-format VersaUV
LEF-300; and Mimaki's new JFX200-2513 EX UV-LED
98.4-inch press said to image 12 boards per hour.

A WEB-TO-PRINT JOURNEY
How one PSP cut costs, stood out from
competitors, and grew its client base
with online ordering.

LEARN MORE

BIG PICTURE

March 2019

See a recent
P-O-P project
from BPI on
pg. 26 in our
April issue.

More and more print shops are exploring web-to-print and
e-commerce options to broaden their customer base,
expedite turn time, and implement automation. For BPI
Media Group (bpimediagroup.com) in Boaz, Alabama,
making the move to a web-to-print program customized
for each client has gone a long way in cutting costs and
generally simplifying processes from order to shipment
- for both the customer and the PSP.
Like so many print service providers, BPI Media Group
started in the world of offset printing. About eight years ago,
BPI purchased Pageflex software to help drive sales on a digital
platform through customized "storefronts" for each client to
place orders on their own branded page, bypassing a traditional
ordering process via email or phone call. Though initially
used for the ordering and printing of marketing collateral
such as brochures, wide-format digital printing services
were rolled into the system as BPI entered that segment six
years ago. One of their largest clients has a storefront portal
with 2000 wide-format products. So, how does it work?
BPI's customers are mostly big franchise-based corporations or manufacturers with a large distribution network and
a lot of marketing or display needs. For example, a company
with franchised retail locations throughout the country could
have a personalized storefront including all of their branded
signage, displays, or other printed items. An individual
franchisee could log in to what looks like a typical e-commerce shopping site (with relevant costs and shipping details)
and order what they need for their locations. The print order

is sent to BPI; the client receives an order (and, later,
shipping) confirmation via email; artwork and any associated
color profiles for that customer are pulled from the server
and dropped into the appropriate department files where it
enters a queue for the press operator. The entire process is
automated up until the operator sends the project to the
appropriate printer. The order continues to be tracked in the
system until the graphics arrive at their destination.
"It's a huge benefit to us as we can accept orders 24/7,"
says Alan Davis, BPI Media Group president. "We took out
six hand touches for files through use of the storefront - in
turn, that allows us to do things cheaper."
For customers, the program streamlines ordering. A
client reported to BPI that use of the custom storefront cut
internal administrative costs by 25 percent and eliminated
75 percent of emails related to their print items. Analytics
provided by the system can also aid clients in tracking all
orders across the company.
"It's not so much about what software you use; it's more
about what personnel you have," Davis says. "We have four
people - our programmers/IT/software gurus - who keep
things up and running and innovate what we do."
With 30 clients utilizing a customized storefront portal,
BPI is working on the next step in automation. Within the
next 18 months, the PSP will enable an order placed at
midnight to be automatically printed before the facility
opens at 6:30 that morning.
The storefront portals and push toward further automation help BPI differentiate the business from competitors.
"We are not in a major market, so for us to be competitive
with the large corporations we have to have something that's
more beneficial to them than just ink on substrate," Davis says.

http://www.bpimediagroup.com

Big Picture - May 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Big Picture - May 2019