In late November 2013, the innovative team at Pure Digital Print (PDP, www.pdpscodix.com) in Tulsa, OK, had just completed a long, 14,000-sheet press run of Christmas cards on its Scodix S74 digital enhancement press for a local Hard Rock Casino. Looking at the run, PDP general manager Adam Stewart realized, “We make everything look better with Scodix.”
Twelve months earlier, however, Stewart never dreamed that he would be running a printing company featuring the tangible Scodix SENSE experience. But that all changed in late 2012, when he was approached by a friend, who also was a 20-year printing industry veteran.
“He talked to me about his plans to buy a Scodix press and asked me if I’d like to run the business for him.” By contrast, Stewart says he had minimal related experience. “I ran a Ricoh C900 at a previous job, so I understand workflow.”
That credential alone was enough, and the investment in Scodix was made the following spring. The S74 was installed in May 2013, making PDP the first and only print facility in Oklahoma with Scodix technology. The installation marked the seventh Scodix press in the United States; there are now more than 100 worldwide.
Ramping Up
After seven months of ramping up, “it has just now caught fire,” Stewart says now. “Scodix advised us that the marketing curve is about six months, and they were right.” If demand remains constant, Stewart expects the S74 press to pay for itself within 18 to 24 months. “It’s too early to pinpoint ROI because we’re still introducing Scodix to new prospects and clients,” says the GM, “but our expectation [is] in another year or by mid-2015.”
One recent job has Stewart thinking of expansion. “The Christmas card digital run for Hard Rock took 40 hours on press,” Stewart reports. “With Scodix’s new Ultra model, it could have been done in 17 hours,” he notes. Producing at speeds of 1,250 sheets per hour, the Ultra is easily the fastest press of its kind available. “If we get many more jobs like that one in the door, it’ll be time for a second press. We are going to need that Ultra!”
And if PDP’s momentum continues to build in 2014, capacity on the S74 may sell out, making Stewart’s Ultra dream a reality.
PDP’s Client List
“We are not doing direct mail yet,” asserts Stewart, “but we are doing flyers, brochures, business cards, and even custom ticketing for a local brand agency.” PDP also is printing book covers, which are laminated for protection. “The Scodix effect is put on top of the lamination,” he explains.
For one client, One to One Marketing, PDP has produced custom packaging featuring a square box with different Scodix textures on each side. “For their ‘Market Like a Rock Star’ campaign, we ‘Scodix’d’ die-cut electric guitars that went out to a couple thousand people,” Stewart describes. He admits that, early on, he and his colleagues were the beneficiaries of a “crack client list” from digital print firm Bluestem Integrated, PDP’s job-share partner. “They just handed us the casinos,” including Hard Rock.
PDP presently is housed physically within Bluestem Integrated (https://bluestemintegrated.com), an established digital print firm in the Tulsa area with an HP Indigo 5500 on its production floor. “We pay rent, and they give us a good click charge,” Stewart says. “The job-sharing arrangement has worked very well for both firms.”
PDP/Scodix customers now include marketing and graphic design firms, colleges and universities (including the University of Central Florida), high-end schools, such as Holland Hall (a private college prep school in Tulsa), a hospice out of Michigan, and nonprofits including Soldier’s Wish (www.soldierswish.org). PDP also works with other area print brokers, creating increasing demand for the Scodix effect.
Stewart adds, “Scodix really sets us apart from any other competition in the area.”
How Scodix Technology Works
Scodix S model digital presses have the power to stir the senses and to produce eye-catching, memorable print experiences. The patent-pending Optical Print Alignment (OPA) camera system executes enhancements with pinpoint accuracy (image-to-image registration), scanning each and every sheet to ensure delivery of the trademarked PolySENSE clear polymer to its exact location.
Using these unique digital enhancement capabilities, the S press can produce 99 Gloss Units (GU) – the highest gloss available for printed materials – up to 250 microns in polymer height and variable density capabilities, ranging from 1% to 100%.
Supporting this technology is the Scodix Rainbow Station, the world’s first in-house digital inkjet glittering station, creating new opportunities for photo-album covers, marketing communication materials, cosmetics and premium packaging, business cards, wedding invitations, and other short-run applications, the manufacturer says.
