This past month we marked a watershed moment for Draper literature, and our marketing department in general. That moment was the installation of a new digital color printer.
Our old Heidelberg black and white printer, waiting to be packaged and sent away for good..
For years, Draper has been known for the quality of our literature—catalogs, flyers, brochures, etc. However, we found ourselves needing to print less and less, and the world grew accustomed on getting information emailed or finding it online.
About 10 years ago, Draper moved our black and white printing in-house. We purchased a Heidleburg battleship of a printer, and churned out things like installation instructions and other technical documentation. Based on our success with that on-demand approach, and the dwindling demand for traditional printed materials, we decided look into expanding our capabilities in this area.
Now the old Heidelburg has been wrapped up and is gone, replaced by a spanking new digital printer from Ricoh. Our new printer allows us to print color marketing materials as well as black and white technical documents—and all at the same quality you’ve come to expect from Draper.
“OK” I can hear yourself asking, “that’s all great for you guys but why do I care?”
That’s a great question—I’m glad you … I mean, I … asked it!
The new color printer ready for action.
This greatly expands our literature production capabilities. Previously, it was usually too costly to print small quantities of print literature for small trade shows or one-time uses, because to justify the expense per-piece, we would have to order a huge number of copies. Then we’d be stuck with out-of-date or specialty materials in inventory. Now we can design and print a custom catalog or brochures to meet a more specialized needs. So, we can provide you with more relevant marketing materials when you need them.
We also have quicker turnaround times. Since we no longer have to send a document off to an outside printer, this cuts one or two weeks—and sometimes more—off of production time.
Another plus is keeping literature up to date. We all know things change. Sometimes we update a product, add something new, or perhaps there was a mistake. (I know—surely not, right?) We can now correct an error or update our documents as changes are made so there isn’t literature with incorrect information being sent out.
So for these reasons and more, we say goodbye to the old printer, affectionately known as “Heidi,” and welcome a new tool for the Draper literature department. We’ve not yet decided what to call the new one, although “Uncle Ricoh” has been suggested.
To find out what literature we have available for you to order and use, check out our online request site by visiting http://request.draperinc.com.
