There's an old adage that says, "You can work harder or you can work smarter. " At CCP/Bayou Printing, Valparaiso,
Florida, Manager Phil Pink has done both– and he definitely prefers the latter.
With demand for quick printing services waning and competition fiercer than ever, Pink decided to avoid the downward
spiral of price wars. Instead, he opted to carve out a niche in-between this market segment and high-end commercial
printing, offering a full range of graphic services, strong customer service and good quality.
Critical to this strategy was finding cost-efficient imaging technology, as CCP/Bayou already had a top-notch staff of
graphic designers, prepress technicians and press operators. "I'd been looking for a technological solution for a
long time, but it had been escaping me because of price," he recalls.
Coming upon the RIPit® booth at a trade show, he found it: the Speed Setter™ internal drum imagesetter and an
Epson Stylus Proofer driven by RIPit's OpenRIP®. "The RIPit equipment is very inexpensive," he declares. "There's
comparable stuff, but not with the same value. The engineering behind RIPit’s Imaging Systems is tremendous."
Within a week of installation, CCP/Bayou's RIPit system was outputting jobs for its presses and duplicators.
Since the SpeedSetter can image film or plates as large as 12.5" x 18.75", Pink's staff was able to plot 11" x 17"
spreads with full bleeds that could go straight onto the press or duplicators without any further stripping.
The productivity gains have been enormous: for a book job produced last year, three CCP employees worked for three
and a half weeks to prep the job; using the RIPit system this time around, the same job was completed in two days
by two employees using $3,000 less in Consumables! "On top of everything else, the quality is better," Pink exclaims
CCP/Bayou is leveraging those gains in other ways, too. Pink says the increased quality is generating new business
from local companies that want his designers to create ads. "For seven years my art department went without a
profit; now it's profitable," he marvels, adding that the demand has allowed him to raise prices.
CCP's SpeedSetter® outputs separations with all printing and registration in place, and they rely on the Epson Color
Inkjet Proofer with RIPit’s color profiles to generate accurate comps for clients to review.
Beyond technology, Pink is convinced that taking care of customers is the essential ingredient to success. Many of
the businesses in his area are too small to be a major account for a big commercial printer, but they're a perfect fit
for CCP/Bayou. Making sure these clients get red-carpet service has boosted business in every way, Pink explains.
"Now we're working with a customer base that's not worried about [spending] $26 versus $30 an hour. They know
we're representing their company, producing their jobs correctly and on time."
CCP/Bayou's strategy has been extremely successful with clients in the utility industry. It produced a high-quality
newsletter for one electric cooperative in the area that got distributed to about 20 other co-ops in the region. Since
then, Pink says he's been asked by several co-ops to come in and bid on their newsletters.
CCP/Bayou has ventured into the yearbook arena, using an all-digital workflow to make money in this market segment.
By making plates digitally, Pink says his halftones come out better than competitors' work that is run on better
presses. "We could never have done this job without the RIPit equipment," he confides.
In the nine months since CCP/Bayou installed its RIPit system, revenues have increased 25%, despite a decline in
quick print business. Both the margins and run length of jobs are increasing and Pink has a two week backlog of
work; he's now recruiting more staff to meet demand. "To do that when quick printing is declining is great," he reports.
"And RIPit is a major part of that success."
