Printing Services: Branding Act In Prints Communication

Printing Services: Branding Act In Prints Communication & Understanding Print Fulfillment

Cheers To Brumley for the inspiration to review this article with exceptional edits.

Outsourcing your print fulfillment needs to a reliable and trustworthy provider can save your business time, money and space. In this article, we will explain the different types of print fulfillment services, and how a print fulfillment provider like XINI Prints in Lagos Nigeria can offer value and peace of mind through our replicated production section in our parent company XINI Communications Limited.

Print fulfillment refers to a third party vendor printing services, storing, collating, assembling, packaging, and/or shipping printed and promotional products. The main advantage of outsourcing print fulfillment is increased efficiency. Print fulfillment services by the seasoned experts will benefit your company by:

Saving your company time and money spent on personnel resources
Conserve Space and money in that physical square footage is not required for storing materials
Providing access to shipping costs discounts for print fulfillment vendors doing a high volume
Giving you experience and resources streamline the process, so assembly and distribution can happen faster and with fewer errors
Avoiding large equipment purchases, which means you can make smaller investments
Offering customization for your company’s individual needs

Print Fulfillment Services Saves Your Company Time and Money

Types of Typical Print Fulfillment Services Include:

Pick and Pack: As the name implies, this service involves selecting ordered materials from their cartons and combining them with other requested materials from other cartons. The items are then prepared for shipment. This service is used when orders vary in content and are not prepackaged in standard quantities. For example, one order may include 20 folders, 10 brochures and 15 pens, while a different order asks for 15 folders, 20 inserts and 12 note pads.

Case Picking: Unopened, full cartons are pulled from the warehouse shelves and prepared for shipment. This service does not involve opening cartons and picking out materials and promotional items from the cartons.

Assembly: Printed materials are collated, combined, gathered, folded and organized into a unit. An example of assembly is placing a printed brochure, printed notepad, promotional pen and printed forms into a printed pocket folder.

Kitting: Kitting is similar to Pick in Pack, but instead of picking an individual order on demand, kits are assembled ahead of time with pre-chosen items and quantities. The kits are stored until needed for filling orders. All of the kits are identical.

Variable Data Printing: In this print fulfillment service, printed pieces are customized for each recipient. For example, a printed promotional postcard will have each individual name and address.

Print on Demand (POD): POD enables you to only print what you need for each order, without having to pre-purchase or store large quantities of printed and promotional materials. Printing on Demand also enables you to make changes as desired, without trying to figure out what to do with the backstock. With POD, you need to allow a little extra time for order fulfillment, and there is not already available stock on hand.

Warehousing and Fulfillment: If you have additional items to add to your outgoing orders that are not provided or produced by your print fulfillment company, they may still be able to store, fulfill and ship these products for an additional cost.

Drop Shipping: When a customer makes a purchase from you, the print fulfillment provider manages the entire delivery. They pick the item from their warehouse, pack it and ship it to the customer. Drop shipping can even be done blindly, meaning that the third party fulfillment company is never identified and the customer isn’t even aware that you did not have a hand in the shipment.

XINI Prints Can Provide All of Your Print Fulfillment Needs

Outsourcing print fulfillment services can not only save your company money, but also save you from the headaches of using complicated, expensive equipment and finding scarce storage space. No matter which services you need, a qualified print fulfillment provider can efficiently print, gather, organize and distribute your company’s printed products and promotional materials, leaving you and your employees more time to grow your business.

THAT’S WHY PRINT IS SO MUCH MORE THAN PRINTING: Exclusive Concepts At XINI Prints, Your modern clear digital printing company

Why Print is so much more than just printing
Innovations at XINI: UV-Offset printing and SPEC.

There’s printing, and then there’s Print – and there are so many good reasons why we rarely refer to ourselves as mere “printers” .We spoke with Robert Berlanda, Technical Manager Print & Service at LONGO, about the new terminology, changes in the printing sector and our new innovative UV Offset and SPECTRA 7 print technology.

These days we tend to use the English “Print” rather than the German equivalent, ”Druck.” Why is that?

Well, it’s probably mainly due to internationalisation and modernisation. We work together with companies from all over the world and the entire printing process has now become digitalised, leading to a tendency to use English terminology. A further reason – at least in our case – is the spectrum of activities and skills the world of print comprises nowadays: while in the past, “Druck,” or “print,” referred only to the printing process itself, the word “print” today encompasses all the processes from start to finish, including pre and post-production.

Thanks to our significant investment in R&D, here at XINI we are extremely well-positioned in every sector of Print. We have become much faster and more flexible in terms of putting our clients’ requests into practice; consultation is more rapid, and production times are shorter. New technology also allows us to create complex products in fewer steps .

What is possible today that was unthinkable in the past?

Today you can order a product online and have the final result in two hours, a concept beyond all imagining five years ago. Together with high-performance software, e.g. the Marketing Toolbox, companies can now respond to requests in the shortest time possible, and bring the flexibility of online life into the real world.

Furthermore, the time-consuming, tedious phases of prepress proofing and adjustment have been vastly simplified. Nowadays, an efficient prepress phase in the initial stages allows us to access and import data directly in the subsequent phases (plate production, printing).

Currently, we’re focussing first and foremost on improving the results. Techniques developed by LONGO, such as Spectra 7 and new technology, such as LE-UV printing (Low Energy) make it possible to create complex products in vastly reduced times and with fewer phases.

Check out a video from longo

What does LE-UV printing consist of?

The special feature of UV offset printing is that photoactive inks are used in the printing services phase which, the second they come into contact with paper, are immediately dried and fixed by ultraviolet light. This cuts out the drying process, making it possible to move on to the next phase immediately. Additionally, we no longer need to lacquer coat the surface, and can print even on highly-absorbent materials.

Thank you for the explanation! Robert Berlanda tells us more about changes in the printing industry in this blog post: What does a Technical Manager Print & Service at LONGO do?

So what is UV offset printing services, exactly? Let’s take a look:

Here’s how UV offset printing works:

Greater brilliancy and more intense colour vibrancy – that’s what we can achieve with UV-offset print. This print technique delivers pictures with enhanced three-dimensionality, vividness and motif depth. Our innovative inline method enables combinations of matt and glossy varnishes in UV-offset printing.

UV curing technology converts all the component parts of the paint or varnish into a strong polymer compound, which allows them to harden rapidly. Unlike conventional inks, the UV inks used in this process do not contain components that oxidize or evaporate, but rather contribute directly towards polymerization. The UV ink is, therefore, 100% embedded within the dry colour layer.

UV offset printing opens up entirely new opportunities for our customers: This technique allows us to print on an incredibly wide range of materials, such as thin films or adhesive sheets, which would otherwise be too sensitive to heat or prone to deformation,

In contrast to matte film lamination, inline UV coating enables even the smallest of print details to be highlighted. Exact-fit cut-outs and perforations can also be performed in one single phase, thanks to our state-of-the-art printing presses. UV LED lamps also contribute to speeding up our work processes, as there are no drying times between printing, finishing and painting.

And we can protect the environment at the same time: Our UV LED lamps are streets ahead of normal lamps as they consume 60% less power, and contain neither mercury nor ozone.

XINI’s UV offset printing services with technology brings ultra-high quality together with efficiency and environmental awareness. And last but not least, this technology offers superb value for money. Why not see for yourself!

NEW CASE: APPLE PAPER – OUR EXPERIENCES AT PRINT & PACKAGING

Apple paper: How to make complex corporate values easily visible.

Corporate values such as environmental awareness, sustainability and proximity to nature are a special challenge for our customers in their brand communication. How can the choice of material for a print product clearly show that the company lives up to its values? Is there even an ecopaper that is suitable for highquality design and with which you can stand out clearly at the same time from the competition?

We use such a paper for environmentally conscious companies: Cartamela, apple paper from South Tyrol.

What is apple paper anyway?

Cartamela Apple Paper is a natural paper made from the press residues of apple juice production. Over 400,000 tonnes of fruit waste accumulate throughout the EU every year. Due to the risk of fungus, this pomace must not be used on fields or as animal feed, and is therefore currently disposed of.

In 2003 Albert Volcan, managing director of the biorecycling company “Eco apple” of Italy, developed a process that ensures an innovative and sustainable reuse of apple peel. The Cartamela apple paper comes from South Tyrol, an area that is famous for its apples. Every year, a great deal of apple pomace is produced, which is made into paper by Frumat, which currently holds the patent for Cartamela.

To produce the apple paper, the cellulosic apple remnants are dried and then further processed into organic paper. This paper is just as durable as conventional natural paper and can be printed and processed just as well.

One of the most common questions is whether apple paper smells or tastes like apples. No, it’s not like that! The color also corresponds to normal paper, but it has a very own, fine structure. If you have a product made of apple paper in your hand, you immediately realize that it is something special!

What exactly can you do with apple paper?

Our printers and packaging specialists have already gained a lot of experience with this special paper. Here are some examples of printed paper products printed by XINI:

For Herbaria, producer of organic gourmet spices, we have developed two packaging solutions. The high-quality packaging of the pepper sets, and the inner workings of the Herbaria lunch box, which contains three small spice mills, are made of apple paper and thus perfectly match the corporate values: Herbaria stands for organic quality and sustainability.

An international company Papermoon, Thiele Publishing launched a papeterie brand in 2017, whose high-quality greeting cards are printed on paper in digital printing services at XINI Augsburg.

With the cookbook “A modern Way to Eat” by Anna Jones, Mosaik (Random House) published the world’s first book printed on apple paper. Here, the content of vegan and modern recipes and the pressure on sustainable and regional natural paper fit together perfectly. In addition, Anna Jones second cookbook “A Modern Way to Cook” was printed on apple paper.

What is apple paper especially suitable for and what needs to be considered when printing?

These print products and packaging solutions show what apple paper is particularly suitable for:

For companies that want to transport their values with the choice of material
For an environmentally conscious target group that appreciates the special
For people, to whom haptics and sensual experience mean a lot

Apple paper is an uncoated paper that requires special care when converting images. Our pre-press specialists have already gained a great deal of experience with this natural paper and know exactly what has to be observed during processing.

Apfelpapier

Our conclusion to the Cartamela apple paper

Cartamela apple paper is a natural paper with a special feel, which can be processed in the printing process just like other papers. This paper convinces you with its special value and its ecological awareness, sustainability and naturalness. Talk to us – we are happy to show you more examples!

WHAT DOES A TECHNICAL CREATIVE STRATEGIST IN PRINT & SERVICE DO AT XINI?

From a printing services shop to a full-service printing agency

Charles Ataghoma works as the Managing Director/Chief Creative Strategist at XINI with its subsidiary company XINI Prints as the “Creative Strategist for Print & Services.” We talked with him about why service is now so important in the printing sector and why XINI regards itself as a full service agency in the area of printing.

You are the “Creative Strategist for Print & Services.” Just how important is the combination of print and services in the age of online printing services shops?

Charles Ataghoma ; CEO XINI Communications Limited | Talent Manager — Talent Manager | Creative Strategist | Host | Brand Communications Manager

For us, it is fundamental! After all, our clients and customers keeps up with the desire to get the most advanced printing resolution for their required engagement and seeing that we are keen to level up with all the services the company renders to clients and customers are usually unfamiliar with the machinery we use and the possibilities our technologies offer. We view ourselves as a full-service agency capable of providing our customers with consulting and support. Ideally, we offer 100% support from the initial conceptual phase all the way down to the finished product. This allows us to make sure that everything is optimally matched, and guarantees perfect results for the customer. Even after production, we are there for him and can assist in marketing and distribution.

The worldwide trend is towards specialization. Is that true for the printing sector, too?

Yes. Here, too, it is important that one find one’s niche. That is because it is an extremely competitive market, with many competitors defining themselves exclusively on the basis of volume and price. We here at XINI have taken a completely different approach. We have specialized in the production of high-quality printed products for which we employ a number of special techniques – which we have, in part, developed in-house. We are heavily invested in the area of UV printing, and our SPEC+ technology allows us to produce extremely vivid colors. We achieve stunning results by means of the extraordinarily good integration of marketing, sales, prepressing, color management, and printing services.

Since we are a full-service agency, our customers have to deal with only a single contact-person for all of their questions and concerns. That saves time and money. But it also means that none of us here at XINI can view himself as only a specialist for his own narrow field, since we would then be unable to fulfill our role as consultants. Rather, in the framework of the XINI Academy of Prints, we ensure that all of our employees familiarize themselves with adjacent fields. They understand what their colleagues are doing. In this way, we get multi-specialists who are aware of what is happening in previous and subsequent work steps. This has proven to be a great help to us in planning projects in an optimal fashion.

You mentioned UV printing services. Can you explain that to us?

The unique thing about this is the use of photoactive inks in the printing services process which, after coming into contact with the paper, are immediately (within a fraction of a second) dried using ultraviolet light. A separate drying process can thus be dispensed with, and the product can be immediately subjected to further processing. Additionally, surface sealing agents or varnishes can be dispensed with, and even very absorbent materials can be printed on.

The drawback – if you will – is the high demands it makes of prepressing and color management, who have to precisely know what inks are to be used and how. Only then can perfect end results be achieved.

What can we expect in the future?

It is quite clear that the trend is towards individualization. Especially print products, merged with technology, in small jobs. And of course: It will become increasingly necessary to produce extremely quickly, on demand. Nevertheless, the requirement for high quality will not diminish.

XINI is perfectly poised to fulfill all of these demands in these areas. Furthermore, the Marketing Toolbox offers our customers the opportunity to obtain standard printed products in extremely short times.

For us, therefore, the future clearly means: 360° print!

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