A print factory fuelled by Xerox

For a company whose first job was printing 100-cards for the Bharathidasan University, Trichy-based, Print Factory has come a long way. With the recent purchase of the Xerox iGen4 Diamond Edition digital press, the facility has truly become a ‘print factory’ fueled by Xerox.

21 Jun 2014 | By Rahul Kumar

“We already have Xerox 5000 and 5252. We wanted to expand with a unique and specialised application in digital printing at a reduced printing cost and move closer to offset quality,” said Rajarajan, a partner in Print Factory. “We decided to go for Xerox iGen4 Diamond Edition digital press as it comes with large 14 X 26 inch sheet size, 600 X 4800 dpi resolution, high speed and a host of productivity enhancing features.”

Print Factory, located in Trichy, Tamil Nadu, is an unit of Prince and Company, a 22-years-old digital print solution provider in the city, with two branches. The focus is on digital, colour, mono printing, copying and scanning. The business is a joint venture among three partners – Rajarajan, Arun, and Balaji. All three directly look after the business operations, supported by a highly-skilled staff of ten people.

An expert printer and a loyal supporter of the brand, Rajarajan said, the high point of his digital print life was when “we launched Xerox DC 12 colour printer, the first in south Tamil Nadu.” This is, however, not the only reason why they decided to install the Xerox machine. “We started our journey with Xerox and have a long standing relationship with the company. Also, we have always received value pricing and service support from Xerox, making the company our most preferred choice,” Rajarajan said.

And, what is the best thing about Xerox iGen4, especially considering the ground realities in India? “The best thing about the machine,” Rajarajan said, “It produces largest cut sheet size (14.33X26 inch) in multi - colour, high speed 110 ppm, 600x4800 dpi, with excellent image quality and high productivity. Above all, it is very user-friendly. Also, Xerox machines come with excellent service support.”

And it was Xerox that landed him and his partners the biggest compliment about Print Factory – it was the first installation of Xerox iGen4 Diamond Edition in South India.

Does this mean that Print Factory will opt for another machine soon? “Not immediately,” said Rajarajan. “In case our volume grows above four lakh impressions per month, we would like to expand to other major towns. Then perhaps…”

Talking about print, a field he has years of experience on, Rajarajan said, the most satisfying print innovation the country has seen is the use of ID cards and discount cards, in variety of media, at a price available for everybody. This is probably one of the reasons why printing ID cards is his favourite job. This, and printing tri-fold A4 (3-up) brochures. “They are innovative, unique and we specialise in them.”

Again, tri-fold A4 (3-up) multi - colour brochures are a job he would like to print in his Xerox production engine. Other jobs he prefers to do on the machine are catalogues, posters and invitations.

For Rajarajan, being a head of Print Factory means planning jobs for the day and scheduling, overall supervision and interaction with high-volume customers. And, for this year, the goal is set: Grow print revenues to over Rs three crore.

Rajarajan and his partners started the company in 1992 with Xerox mono copying machine, subsequently investing in a Xerox DC12 colour printer, a first in Tamil Nadu. They further added Xerox colour Dc 5252, Dc 5000, Xerox single colour 4112 printing machine and now, the Xerox iGen4 Diamond Edition digital press. All the three partners, who work more than 18-hours a day, have thorough understanding of the printing business, applying innovation in designing, media selection, and finishing a product.

With a staff strength of 10 people, the Print Factory does at least 100-jobs per day. The company has a floor area of 1,800 sq/ft and has equipment such as Xerox iGen4 Diamond Edition with Xmpie U studio image personalisation software, security printing software, Xerox DC 5000, Xerox 4112, Océ wide format printer, 28 inch lamination, cutting, die cutting machine and so on.

Though the facility works 12-hours a day, but customers can upload their jobs on the web anytime.