KONICA MINOLTA POWERS EIGHT GROUP’S DIGITAL PRINT EVOLUTION
Driven by an opportunity to reap the rewards of bringing a larger percentage of its print production in-house and opening new lines of business, Eight Group partnered with Konica Minolta to invest in the AccurioJet KM-1e digital B2 inkjet press, the first of its kind installed at a UK print business. As part of a £1.2 million investment in its production facilities, the Nottingham-based print specialist is leveraging the AccurioJet’s exceptional print quality, colour accuracy, sustainability credentials, and compact footprint. The move has not only enhanced operational capabilities but also delivered significant cost savings of £125,000 a year from previously outsourced large-format work.
Challenges
Eight Group had been outsourcing alarge percentage of its Litho offset print work, which had generally worked well as the company had a good local and national supplier base. However, the amount of outsourcing would fluctuate per month and some months it would be sending out more work for production than it was creating in-house. This was further emphasised by a shift towards higher-quality work, which resulted in lower utilisation of some of Eight Group’s equipment and thus underuse of these investments. Lance Hill, CEO of Eight Group commented, “This led us to start looking at the digital print market. We were looking for the Nirvana of having a high-quality digital print solution that could compete with offset, particularly b2, and would enable us to bring much of this back in-house with the operational and cost benefits that provides.”
Solution
After extensive research and testing, Eight Group chose Konica Minolta’s AccurioJet KM-1e B2 press. The decision was strongly influenced by the company’s positive experience with the Konica Minolta AccurioPress C14000, which it had used for two years. “That machine proved incredibly reliable, with excellent uptime and superb quality,” Lance noted. “Combined with the quality of service we received, it built a strong foundation of trust in Konica Minolta as a partner.” The AccurioJet offers offset-class quality, true substrate flexibility, and fast turnaround without the cost and complexity often associated with B2-format printing. Eight Group also implemented Konica Minolta’s AccurioPro Flux Premium and AccurioPro Dashboard software, enabling a unified workflow and advanced insights into utilisation, capacity, and productivity.
