Cold call leads to Konica Minolta update for leading digital print company.
At About Print, from left: Adam Hawkes, production print specialist at
Konica Minolta New Zealand with About Print directors Jon Devonshire
and Tai Walters and production print manager Zan Emery-Goffe
Wellington-based digital print company About Print supplies print services to clients locally and nationwide.
While the company recently marked out 10 years as a business, its owners Tai Walters and Jon Devonshire offer decades of industry experience and knowledge.
Tai says that from the start, he and Jon wanted to bring a “fresh face to print that values loyalty from our clients, our supply chain, and our staff”. He explains, “Our people, our clients are an extension of who we are – they are part of our whanau, and we are all in this journey together.”
About Print takes a sustainable attitude to its staff members, placing their welfare high on their priority list. Tai says, “We employ well, pay a living wage, and mentor them to grow. Our production manager has just celebrated her nine-year anniversary with us, and she has a forward path plan for the next five years.”
“We have our 16 staff members’ and our clients’ backs 100 percent. If they need something, we will deliver for them.
AccurioPress arrives
Recently, About Print updated its digital armory with two AccurioPress C14000s and an AccurioPress C6100, supplied through Konica Minolta New Zealand.
Tai says, “Our equipment was aging, and we researched all print production platforms before making an 18-month-long decision to move to Konica Minolta.
“I remember Adam Hawkes, production print specialist at Konica Minolta New Zealand making a cold call almost two years before we installed the new machines. Over that time, it became a slow burn. Chris O’Hara, Konica Minolta’s national production print manager, made sure we had everything we needed to make the right decision. So, it is interesting how that simple cold call led us to completely switch our machinery two years later.”
The AccurioPress C14000 prints in CMYK at up to 140ppm A4, or 80ppm A3, with a resolution equivalent to 3600x2400dpi. It handles media up to 450 gsm and detects paper types automatically and offers simplex banner printing up to 129.5cm and duplex banner printing up to 90cm. On one of About Print’s AccurioPress C14000s, the TU-510 finishing unit does slitting, cutting, creasing and perfing inline as well as a Plockmatic booklet maker that can produce landscape A4 booklets.
Tai says, “The AccurioPress C14000 offers us clever quality control measures that ensure we achieve high-quality print at production press speeds. The many bolton finishing units allow us to tailor each of our machines to suit our client needs.”
The AccurioPress C14000 air suction feeding units incorporate automated air controls based on media setup and provide high-quality capacity for media of up to 14,140 sheets, allowing longer print runs without operator intervention. Tai says, “In the first three months, we poured high volumes through the AccurioPress C14000. I don’t think anyone at Konica Minolta had seen those kinds of volumes. The machines took everything we threw at them and never missed a beat with print quality. The bookletmaker streamlined the process, and the trimming unit allowed us to deliver finish product faster.”
Using Konica Minolta’s enhanced IQ-501, About Print’s AccurioPress machines automatically and continuously measure and manage colour to ensure the first print in a run matches the last. Tai says, “For colour management, the IQ 510 is the cleverest piece of tech in a production print machine that I have seen.
“We could not be happier with our decision to install our Konica Minolta AccurioPress machines. We are enjoying our partnership with Konica Minolta New Zealand.”
Talking about the challenges that About Print faces, Tai says, “Keeping market share is always on our radar and we are working at streamlining B2B connectivity. Importantly, we appreciate our ability to keep our entire About Print family fed and happy to work for a company that cares.”
He sees a good long-term future for the industry. He adds, “In my lifetime, print will still exist. Print businesses are still suffering and whilst we have not reached the bottom yet, those of us that remain will diversify, remodel, and enjoy the resultant print market.”
Originally published in the Summer 2024 issue of the New Zealand Printer Magazine.