01732 759725
FINISHING
42
Angela Osborne,
Sales Manager,
Digital Finishing
and Office Division,
Duplo UK
Following a 20% rise in channel sales
in the last financial year – its best
ever in terms of turnover – Duplo says
that the reseller market is potentially
its biggest growth opportunity.
“Any business, whether it’s a general
office set-up, marketing company or
specific print in-plant that has any type
of printing capability should now be
considering how it is finishing those
printed sheets as part of an integrated
business set-up,” she said.
“This can range from desktop binders,
trimmers and folders through to multi-
finishers, guillotines and booklet makers
for production-level finishing.”
Osborne points out that resellers
going into both production and office
environments report that they are
constantly having discussions with their
customers about how best to finish
documents and are providing finishers as
part of an overall solution.
“Whilst in the past, there were some
limited options for production level in-line
finishing, a lot of operations have found
that automated off-line finishing solutions,
where they can remove the output from
the printer so that the next job can be
started, are a lot more efficient,” she said.
“Typically, customers like to be able to
print out a whole stack of several hundred
pages which can be dropped into the
feeder of an automated finishing machine.
At the touch of a button, the user can set
the machine off performing numerous
cuts, slits and creases, according to pre-
programmed jobs
which it will just
get on with in
the background.
In any print
environment, staff are a major cost, so the
less time they spend personally finishing
documents, the better. Finishing documents
automatically makes total productivity and
financial sense.”
Web to print
One organisation making greater use of
Duplo finishing systems is Altodigitial,
which uses them in conjunction with
Altodrive web-to print-software powered
by Infigo Software Ltd.
Altodigital Production Print Manager
Lewis Annis said: “In the past, with
traditional print rooms, it’s been a case
of sending through a print job via email
and then having extensive conversations
with the end user around output and what
finishing the print job requires. Errors can
be frequent and costly, and resources
would need to be considered along with
the productivity required in getting the
job printed. Web-to-print has transformed
this process and it’s helping all kinds of
organisation to make the most of their
print production by providing and sharing
new services whilst growing print room
awareness.”
Annis added: “We are increasingly
taking full advantage of Duplo’s automated
precision systems that are opening up all
kinds of finishing solutions through web-
to-print. It’s been a revelation and we’re
delighted to be growing the partnership.”
Osborne says she hears similar stories
from more and more customers. “Going
back around 15 years, I remember how one
independent girls’ school that uses a bank
PITR
caught up with Angela Osborne, Duplo UK Sales Manager, Digital Finishing
and Office Division, to find out where opportunity knocks for dealers looking to
expand into finishing.
The finishing touch
of Océ systems for printing would take
jobs from the printers and complete them
using glue and scissors. Now they’re using
highly-automated Duplo finishing systems,
which work with a simple green button
approach. Life has changed very quickly in
the world of finishing systems, particularly
in a digital world where personalisation
and full precision automation is key. It’s
now a discussion about selling a complete
solution, apart from just talking about
what comes off a printer,” she said.
“Adding finishing systems to
complement MFPs and digital presses
is becoming the norm. It’s a natural fit.
Anybody selling a printer these days is
naturally going to ask how they can turn
the printed items into a finished product.”
Rewarding partnerships
Duplo invests time and energy to make
working with resellers a mutually
rewarding experience. The company
runs formal training sessions and hosts
practical events, such as open days, to
keep its channel partners fully informed
and aligned and ensure the best possible
experience for its customers.
Profit margins vary enormously
between systems, but Osborne says
that margins of 20-40% are achievable.
However, she counsels that when it comes
to closing a sale no one size fits all.
“Finishing systems are always so different,
it’s essential to start with a notepad and
white sheet so you can make notes to
deliver the best option after spending
a lot of time listening to customer
requirements.”
She added: “We have over 100
different solutions being used in
thousands of applications. And that
requires knowledge. Thinking of one
sales group alone, I can count over 100
years’ experience among the three people
involved in training.”
In order to maintain the high levels of
expertise and customer service channel
partners have come to expect from
Duplo, Osborne says it is committed to
strengthening its support infrastructure.
“We will be investing all of our profits from
last year back into new service and support
staff, training and marketing for the UK
business, for the benefit of our resellers
and end users,” she said.
Off-line
finishing
solutions,
where
output can
be removed
from the
printer so
that the next
job can be
started are
a lot more
efficient.
