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Able beyond labels
Benefit upon benefit
Able Labels used to print basic labels and outsource everything else - but with the iR C3200 it can exceed its customers' needs at two-thirds the previous price.
The members of the Westray family know an opportunity when they see it. When they spot the chance to start a unique business or to take their activities to a new level with new technology they don't let it pass them by.
Take Jill Westray, the mother in the family. She acted decisively in 1979 when she founded Able Labels in her own home, employing a friend. The new company filled a unique gap by designing credit control labels, having them printed by outside printers and selling them to other businesses. Whenever an accounts clerk wanted to whack a "Terms: 30 Days" sticker on an invoice or a "Pay Immediately To Avoid Paying Interest" label on a reminder, Mrs Westray was the one to call.
The move was a success, and the company grew steadily. Brian Westray, the father in the family, joined in 1988 to grow the customised labels side of the business, followed by their daughter-in-law Anne and their sons Ian, Paul and David.
When Jill and Brian retired in 1995, the younger generation saw a new opportunity to grow the business. "We thought we're not masters of our destiny if someone else has got to print the labels because every time there's a price rise we have to push it through," said David Westray, now one of the company's directors. "So we bit the bullet and bought a big label press from Korea."
The ability to cheaply print large numbers of labels was a boon for the company, but this poly-plate roll press - a Chang IK - couldn't match the feats of the digital revolution. It couldn't print photographic-quality images, it wasn't cost-effective for short-run jobs, and it exposed the Westray family to all the hassles of the pre-digital era - from running out film to ordering PMS inks for customers with exacting colour-matching requirements.
Enter the Canon imageRUNNER iR C3200. It exceeds Able Labels' short-run and high-quality label printing requirements, and allows the company to offer a general full-colour printing service, too. Today, customers come to the Westray family for labels, and leave with everything from business cards to letterhead. "There was a lot of saying no," says Westray of the days before the iR C3200. "But not any more."
Able beyond labels
11 months after she bought Warners Bay Florist, Annette Moss decided the business needed a new, smart and consistent look. She approached Able Labels, and the iR C3200 was happy to oblige.
Thanks to its Esplanade address and floor-to-ceiling windows, WBF overlooks the scenic Warners Bay foreshore where families gather for Friday night jazz in the park. Clearly, appearances matter in the flower business, and Able Labels was able to turn this store's new logo and colour scheme into a complete set of stationery and wrapping. Today, the business' unique logo - a flower bracketed by a shell, a starfish and waves - adorns everything from WBF's personal message cards to the stickers that florists use to secure cellophane and paper around bunches of flowers.
Customers love the vivid colours and fine detail of the iR C3200's output, but David Westray knows that the digital revolution has changed everything that happens behind the scenes too, delivering considerable savings. He estimates that a job that would have taken a week to prepare and print on the Chang IK can be completed in two or three days on the iR C3200.
Other savings come from eliminating film, plates and PMS inks from the process entirely, as well as providing fewer opportunities for error and making it easy to correct any errors on the spot. In relevant volumes, the iR C3200 has reduced the cost of printing labels by a third, Westray estimates - and that's presuming the Chang IK was capable of completing the job at all. For printing photo-quality labels, the alternative to using the iR C3200 would have been spending half a million dollars on a metal-plate roll press.
Benefit upon benefit
With repeat customers, the process is even quicker and the savings even greater.
For example, Annette Moss recently bought her second florist store, and when she gives it the WBF makeover her graphic designer won't have to courier another CD-ROM full of artwork to Able Labels. Instead, David Westray will simply walk up to the iR C3200, tap a few times on its large, clear, touch-screen display, and print off a new batch of stationery and wrapping. The entire process will consume just seconds of his time.
Able Labels has stored more than 20 print jobs in the iR C3200's Mailbox, and more than 99 percent of its capacity is still available. Westray believes it will be years before he might have to remove some older jobs from permanent memory to make room for new customers.
David Westray can't stop raving about what the iR C3200 has done for his family's business. The double-sided printing. The automatic collation. The technicians who installed the unit and service it before the need arises - at no additional charge. The simpler job costing that's made possible by Able Labels' pay-per-print plan with Canon. "We're over the moon," he said.
Having watched world trends, Able Labels decided it was time to jump into the world of digital printing and after extensive research decided that Canon's iR C3200 was the only way go. The entire label printing industry is moving in Able Labels' direction. Digital label printing has broken past its last barrier - the fact that label stock has traditionally come on rolls, with coatings that aren't suitable for the new techniques. Able Labels can now source many varieties of sheet-fed stock with suitable coatings, and customers often prefer to receive their labels in flat form too. David Westray is thrilled, and Able Labels expects to double its business. With the iR C3200, the Westray family is the master of its own destiny.
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