Prepress

Newnorth increases automation and strengthens its market proposition

Friday 08. February 2013 - Established commercial printer praises XMF Remote for its ability to streamline the print approval process and improve customer relationships

Newnorth is a dynamic commercial printer that focuses on the continuous development of its production processes to improve relationships with customers and stay ahead of the competition. The company, which has 70 employees and boasts a turnover of £8.5m, produces leaflets, brochures, books and magazines for a diverse range of markets, including charities, government, professional and educational institutes.
Newnorth’s production environment comprises a Screen platesetter and a couple of B1 litho presses, together with a brand-new digital print department and in-house finishing. A recent addition to this line-up has been the Fujifilm XMF workflow production suite, which supports the company in managing its entire workload.
David Hennessy, operations manager at Newnorth, explains: “We had been using Fujifilm’s consumables for a long time and we were looking for an up-to-date and versatile solution to speed up our production process from initial files being supplied to the final approval stage, in order to increase automation and enhance our customers’ experience. When we came across XMF workflow and its advanced XMF Remote module, we thought it was the perfect tool for us.”
Newnorth installed Fujifilm’s XMF workflow in March and since then has been working closely with the technical team at Fujifilm to maximise the software’s efficiency in order to reach its specific production targets. Positive results were achieved very quickly. “We image approximately 6000 B1 plates per month and so managing files quickly and efficiently is fundamental to be productive. Out of 200 jobs, 150 are now approved on-line via XMF Remote, with 50% of not requiring any further intervention by the operator. Through XMF Remote, we’ve increased our productivity by over 25%, minimising mistakes and dramatically reducing turnaround times,” explains David.
XMF Remote is a comprehensive web portal and soft-proofing module that complements Fujifilm’s XMF cross-media workflow. XMF Remote allows printers to offer additional online services to its clients, including the ability to preflight and submit jobs online and, once in production, to review, annotate and approve jobs and receive real-time notification of the job status. XMF Remote also helps printers to improve their operational efficiency, speeding up job hand-off, review, correction and turnaround.
Colin Gray, pre-press manager at Newnorth, is particularly pleased with the software: “Fujifilm’s XMF workflow is a user friendly solution which has helped us to guarantee accurate files as well as save money. For example, our approval process has been cut from a day to a couple of hours, and integrated email notifications now allow us to notify clients when work is available for review. For added security, XMF Remote’s online job previews are generated from RIPped data so that customers are always viewing jobs exactly as they will appear when printed and can make their own corrections. Not only do our customers love XMF Remote, but our customer service has also benefited massively from a simplified proofing production process, which in turn enhances the relationship with end users.”
“Offering additional online services allows us to work more closely with our customers, helping to develop and expand existing business. Tools like job uploads, pre-flighting, previewing and approval contribute to us achieving this objective. When we looked at XMF Remote we were delighted with its simplicity, and so are our clients,” David adds. He continues: “The installation of Fujifilm XMF’s workflow has turned into an added value exercise for our entire business as it has enabled us to streamline the pre-press department and reallocate operators to other areas to pursue new business opportunities.”
Newnorth is keen on future developments and upgrades to XMF to further enhance the company’s ability to be competitive. David explains: “We’ve already achieved an outstanding level of automation and improved the overall factory throughput, but we are committed to raising the standards of our production to exceed customers’ expectations.” He concludes: “Fujifilm is a global company with a local and down-to-earth approach. We are happy with its prompt support and we are confident that its R&D department will come up with new and advanced solutions to keep sustaining our growth.”