Océ customer FT Mail Solutions invests in new production printing systems

Southampton, Hampshire – 14 December 2011 -FT Solutions Group is ramping up its digital production and output capacity, with a £1million investment in new production printing systems that will keep this expanding print services group at the forefront of technology.

FT Solutions’ digital printing operation, based at its headquarters in Hertford, has installed a new Canon imagePRESS C7010VPS together with an Océ VarioPrint 6160 whilst its Direct Marketing production facility sister company, FT Mail Solutions based in Southampton, has taken delivery of an Océ VarioStream 7450 twin continuous feed print production system.
 
The Canon imagePRESS C7010VPS is one of the first systems in the UK to have an Océ PRISMAsync controller that matches the productivity and functionality of the same controller on the black & white perfecting Océ VarioPrint 6160 production printer.

The monthly output on the new digital systems has already seen a four-fold increase, with FT expecting to see this increase improve further over the next 12 months.

The turnover of the FT Solutions Group is predicted to rise again in the coming year to £26 million. This is, in part, on the back of these investments, although their real benefit won’t be realised until their new 2012-2013 financial year which starts in April.

Tom Gurd, Managing Director of FT Solutions, said: “In challenging economic times, the need to plan ahead is so very important and these investments will position the Group to benefit from changes in the marketplace as the need for ever shorter run lengths increases. Indeed “fresh thinking”, which is FT’s tag line, is everything. If you are just replicating the needs and mistakes of the past as a partner to any organisation and not looking at their business needs objectively, then you are not adding value and this is what is so badly needed these days.

“Investing in these leading-edge digital print systems is crucial to our success going forward and has already delivered fantastic benefits for FT and our customers. Two key benefits are quality and flexibility. No longer do we have to print bulk stocks for warehousing; our customers literally get what they want when they want as virtually everything can be printed on demand these days and be highly targeted in terms of personalisation.  This can be readily summed up as CLICK – PRINT – DELIVER.

“Another additional benefit is that we can now offer print management clients more print-on-demand work – it’s a win-win situation all round!”

FT Solutions has a diverse 500-strong national and international client base, servicing a range of market sectors. These include airlines and travel companies, logistics and freight providers, high street retailers, training companies, financial services providers, membership organisations and numerous multi-sited businesses.

Craig Nethercott, Océ UK’s Director of Production Printing, said: “FT Solutions can provide every aspect of its customers’ print, sourcing and logistics management needs with an all-in-one service. And although this is a company that is growing through significant new contracts and new business wins, it also now benefits from being able to use high quality and productive digital technology instead of litho for many of these contracts.”

Further information from Colin Harding, of Shaw Communications,
01344 761208, 07730 435400, colin.harding@shawcommunications.co.uk

Further information on FT and its services from Ian Woolley, Group Sales Director, on 07917 387 619 or e-mail Ian on ianw@ftsolutions.co.uk
FT’s website www.ftsolutions.co.uk

About Océ
Océ is one of the leading providers of document management and printing for professionals. The Océ offering includes office printing and copying systems, high speed digital production printers and wide format printing systems for both technical documentation and color display graphics. Océ is also a foremost supplier of document management outsourcing. Many of the Fortune Global 500 companies and leading commercial printers are Océ customers. The company was founded in 1877. With headquarters in Venlo, The Netherlands, Océ is active in over 100 countries and employs more than 20,000 people worldwide. Total revenues in financial 2010 amounted to approximately €2.7 billion. Océ is listed on Euronext in Amsterdam. For more information visit www.oce.com.

Océ and Canon: Stronger together
In 2010 Océ joined the Canon Group of companies with headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, to create the global leader in the printing industry. Canon develops, manufactures and markets a growing line-up of copying machines, printers, cameras, optical and other products that meet a diverse range of customer needs. The Canon Group comprises over 197,000 employees worldwide. Global net sales in 2010 were more than USD 45 billion. For more information visit www.canon.com.