Case Study

McKellar Renown Press – PRESS MATCHER

The Successful Integration of Digital and Offset Technologies with CGS ORIS Solutions

Operating out of an old movie theatre in Melbourne, Australia, is prominent printery McKellar Renown Press (McKR). Established in 1946, McKR’s business is family-owned by the Norgates, and now proudly spans three generations. Five family members and a team of 40 staff currently operate the business.

McKR provides quality-differentiated sheetfed offset, digital and security printing. Like many offset printeries, there has been pressure for McKR from the general print market and its clients to include digital print in their service repertoire. The company was insistent to not simply dive into digital print. The company directors were resolute to not jeopardize McKR’s brand integrity, so time and effort was invested to test out different solutions to come out with the best digital print solution that aligns with the quality of their offset print services.

After 9 intensive months of research, McKR finally came to the decision to install CGS ORIS colour management systems to power up its digital presses:

“CGS ORIS maintains our ‘golden triangle’ of colour consistency between inkjet proofing, offset and digital and has helped us retain our competitive differentiation of best practice colour management,” said Norgate.

McKR first installed PRESS MATCHER, along with the Xrite i1i0 spectrophotometer, that manages colour on the company’s digital machines – the Fuji Xerox c800 and c700. The PRESS MATCHER keeps the presses aligned with the colour from the spectroproofer and the offset presses. Another CGS ORIS solution McKR utilized is COLOR TUNER, which drives the Epson spectroproofer, proofer calibrations, proof validation to ISO standards and RIP queues for security and commercial offset work. On the offset side, McKR houses the Heidelberg CD102 and Heidelberg Sm74 presses.

“In our transition to digital, it was crucial to be able to address specific quality requirements across inkjet, xerographic and lithographic that are specific to stamp and philatelic products,” said Norgate. “We began investigation into digital solutions with the release of Fogra standard digital devices and when equipment manufacturers realized upon the capability for these devices to be reliably colour managed.”

“It was paramount that the solution McKR chose could dovetail into our existing colour standards, workflow and client expectations,” said Chris Norgate, general manager, McKellar Renown Press. Norgate is one of the latest generations to be involved in the established print business. At the same time, McKR was also investigating ways they could improve colour management and client expectation management processes in order to retain and grow key accounts. Keeping processes aligned with best practice standards was a priority.

Kerrie Norgate Account Executive uses the gamut viewer in PRESS MATCHER

The Hunt for Colour Perfection

If you’ve ever used stamps, chances are one of them came from McKR. McKR specializes in producing postage stamps, churning out millions annually for the domestic and export markets. Australia Post and other Postal Authorities requires that there be accurate consistent colour and integrity to their stamp products in order to maintain a healthy collectors market – which is why colour perfection takes precedence in McKR.

“Visual variations in colour need to be rarities to facilitate the hobby and market of stamp collecting,” said Norgate. “Our colour management solution recognizes colour change mathematically as ‘delta error’ but also recognizes that our eyes are more sensitive to variations in some colours than others and use that understanding alongside mathematical measurements to best regulate colour for the stamp collectors market.”

“We evaluated output from EFI and GMG, but with demonstrations by Fuji Xerox found that the CGS ORIS solution best integrated with our workflow and requirements,” said Norgate. Fuji Xerox’s Professional Services team helped to integrate the solutions into the print system. “Being Fogra-certified, they recognized our exacting requirements and our need for competitive differentiation in the world of colour management and provided us with the necessary support to take the full advantage of CGS ORIS’ capabilities.

It proved to be the best decision, because McKR went on to win two gold medals for both offset and digital printing at the prestigious Australian National Print Awards 2013 after integrating the CGS ORIS colour management solution. The printery also won two out of three of the top national awards, namely the Heidelberg Award for Excellence in Offset Printing & the Fuji Xerox Effectiveness Award for Digital Printing.

“We’re proud to have McKR as a customer. Together with Fuji Xerox Australia as our partner, we are all more than excited about all the awards McKR has been able to win, as testament to our ability to deliver what we promise,” said Christopher Thommessen, sales director for the Asia Pacific region, CGS ORIS.

“Time and time again, CGS ORIS superior colour management system tools delivers to guarantee consistent quality across different output devices, even on different substrates. And McKR is the best proof of that,” added Thommessen.

The Key to Successful Digital Transition

The implementation of the CGS ORIS colour management solutions enabled McKR to achieve Fogra Validation Print Creation certification for its c800 digital press. “This was our second colour management certification, along with our existing ISO 12647-2 certification for offset. The successful transition of many existing and new accounts across to the new digital solution relied on McKR’s strong colour proposition that CGS ORIS and Fogra certification provided,” said Norgate.

The CGS ORIS PRESS MATCHER was instrumental in McKR’s success into digital.

This solution kept the presses aligned with the colour from the spectroproofer and the offset presses, ensuring that the company was able to provide the best digital colour practices that can match its established offset workflow and value proposition. On the other hand, the CGS ORIS COLOR TUNER was instrumental in streamlining McKR’s proofer calibrations and together with the spectroproofer validation procedure, guarantees accurate colours in proofs. “The COLOR TUNER guarantees that 100% of the proofs we provide to our clients are colour correct, eliminating press downtime and any inefficiencies caused by inaccurate proofs. This in turn was able to increase client satisfaction and approval speeds on key accounts to positively affect turnaround and cashflow,” added Norgate.

The Vivid Future Ahead

McKR’s most celebrated characteristic is its intense focus on achieving quality  and colour accuracy at all times. Such a trait will only continue to flourish the company’s digital print division as it inevitably grows over time.

“As our press fleet grows and we embrace new and emerging printing technologies, We see CGS ORIS as a critical part of our colour management strategy moving forward, to give us a competitive edge versus other providers utilizing the same or similar technology,” said Norgate. “Where the CGS ORIS solutions really excel is in their ability to help reliably manage client expectations. If a job fulfills or exceeds a client’s expectations, they are more likely to be happy with the service you provide. And a happy client is one the most valuable assets of any business,” Norgate concluded.

The Business

Industry: Commercial and Security Printing, Sheetfed Offset Lithographic & Digital Xerographic Printing

Business Name: McKellar Renown Press (McKR)

Headquarters: Melbourne, Australia Website: http://www.mckr.com.au/

Machines: Fuji Xerox c800 and c700 press, alongside an Epson Stylus Pro 9900 and Fuji Xerox Colour Managed Workflow Solution.

The Challenge

– Successfully integrate digital print systems into their business that could dovetail into existing colour standards, workflow and client expectations.

– Improve colour management and client expectation management processes to retain and grow key accounts and keep processes aligned with best practice standards.

The Solution

CGS ORIS Colour Management Solution consisting of:

– PRESS MATCHER

– COLOR TUNER

The Business

– McKR achieved Fogra Validation Print Creation certification for its digital printing and ISO/PSO for offset.

– McKR won two gold medals for offset and digital printing at the Australian National Print Awards, plus the two out of three of the top national awards, the Heidelberg Award for Excellence in Offset Printing & the Fuji Xerox Effectiveness Award for Digital Printing.

– The successful transition of many existing and new accounts across to the new digital solution relied on McKR’s strong colour proposition that ORIS and Fogra certification provided.

– Increased client satisfaction with proofs and approval speeds on key accounts, to positively affect turnaround and cashflow.

– Press Matcher ensured McKR is able to provide best digital colour practices to match its established offset workflow and value proposition.

– COLOR TUNER streamlined McKR’s proofer calibrations to guarantee all proofs are colour correct, eliminating press downtime and any inefficiency caused by inaccurate proofs.

Related Products:
icon-PRESS MATCHER icon-CERTIFIED EVALUATE icon-COLOR TUNER
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