Organisers of The Print Show have revealed that this year’s inaugural event served as a key buying event for the UK print industry, with many of the major brands in attendance reported a significant number of sales at the show. Although many companies that were present at The Print Show, which ran from October 13th to 15th, are still in the process of finalizing deals and following up on leads, other were able to actually sign agreements with visitors during the event. Konica Minolta used the show as a platform to sign previously-arranged deals with customers, while the likes of Watkiss was also able to finalise agreements at the NEC.

Another company that has hailed The Print Show for its ability to serve as a key opportunity for buying and selling is Ricoh. As well as proving to be one of the exhibitors at the inaugural event, reporting a steady flow of visitors on its stand, Ricoh was also able to finalise various equipment sales at the show. Cannock-based KJB Print was in attendance at the show to finalise an agreement to purchase a Pro C9110 from Ricoh. The device, launched in September of last year, is capable of printing at a quality of up to 1200 x 4800 dpi and has a warm-up time of just 420 seconds.

Speaking about the reasons behind decision to purchase the Pro C9110, Stephen Egerton, commercial director at KJB Print, said the that the firm put the device through a series of rigorous tests and was impressed with the level of output it was able to achieve. “We went through a selection process across a number of vendors and we shortlisted Ricoh very quickly due to what they could provide to us in terms of solutions,” Egerton said. “The C9110 series is a great range; it’s robust, reliable and consistent.

“We tested it ourselves and then went to the Ricoh site in Telford to test it further. All the feedback we had was good; we spoke to customers and they said the service provided by Ricoh was excellent, so it ticked all the boxes for us. We’re really excited to get it operational.” Tim Carter, sales director at Ricoh UK, also spoke positively about the purchase, stating that the deal will enable the manufacturer to work more closely with KJB Print moving forward.

Carter said: “What we identified with KJB very early on in discussions was that we are both very keen to develop a strategic partnership alliance and we feel this is the start of the journey that we will go on. We will obviously provide growth opportunities through the introduction of the new technology, but there’s also lots of other opportunities for us to develop such as software solutions, consultancy and support. “It’s fundamentally in our interest to ensure our customers are not only happy, but successful as well.”

Carter was also present at the signing of a deal at The Print Show that saw print-on-demand company CMP also purchase a Pro C9110 from Ricoh. The firm already has Ricoh kit in place at its facility in Poole, Dorset, and owner Paul Dawe is confident that the latest addition to its equipment portfolio will perform just as well as existing technology.

Dawe said: “When you look at the relationship we have had with Ricoh since we first purchased a Pro C901, we’ve had massively improved productivity and consistency, and this has led us to believe that we will continue down this route. “When you look at the reliability and uptime we get with Ricoh machines, they are actually better than we were expecting. I’ve worked with this type of kit for over 20 years now and I understand that it can break, but when you look at our time with Ricoh, it’s tidied up so much, and I would say we must be operating at about 98 percent up-time.”

Ricoh’s Carter said that the manufacturer will use the agreement to enhances its existing relationship with CMP to develop a stronger strategic partnership. Carter added: “We have been working with CMP for a number of years and they adopted our technology some time ago with the predecessor product, a Pro C901. We continued to work with them and, as a result of ongoing prosperity and growth, we were able to convince them to invest in our latest technology platform.

“The Pro C9110 offers significantly higher levels of up-time, productivity as well as flexibility. It’s faster than the Pro C901, there’s much more flexibility around media and, uniquely, we can offer a banner sheet capability.” Another company to invest in Ricoh technology at The Print Show was PHD Mail, a business printing services and mail e-solutions firm based in Burton-on-Trent. The company opted to expand into the inkjet colour market with the purchase of an InfoPrint 5000 inkjet system—a deal that was finalised during the show.

Kevin Dunn, business development director at PHD Mail, said the company opted to go with Ricoh despite having considered solutions from other manufacturers. He added: “We’re normally a toner-based company, but we have reached the limits where it is totally unviable to use toner, so we have decided to go to inkjet and the IP5000 is our first choice.”

Stephen Palmer, head of production print at Ricoh UK, oversaw the signing of the deal for the manufacturer. He said: “This is very significant for us. Kevin and BHD have been an existing customer on the toner side of the business, so we’re absolutely delighted they have made the decision to go inkjet and colour. This will allow us to expand our partnership together; we’re confident it will allow Kevin to grow his business, and therefore drive additional volume.”

Speaking more broadly about The Print Show, Palmer praised organisers for the event, stating that it will be “very good” for Ricoh as a company. He added: “The decision to support The Print Show is something we didn’t take lightly as there are other events to consider as well. But what we actually thought the UK needed was a more focused, compact show, which The Print Show provided, and we are absolutely delighted with the output as we have had a steady throughout of customers and prospects.”