A Need for Speed in Daytona

Rex Dietrich says his in-plant had a “need for speed”—and it wasn’t because of its proximity to one of the world’s most famous racetracks.

It was because the Xerox 700 he was running at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Printing and Duplicating Services in Daytona Beach, FL, simply wasn’t fast enough.

“The 700 was an excellent machine, and the quality was outstanding,” explains Dietrich, the in-plant’s manager. “But it was too slow.”

Specifically, Dietrich says he was looking for an upgrade that could handle duplexing on heavyweight stock. The in-plant runs a high volume of postcards, and while the 700 could run the jobs, the heavier stocks would slow the press down.

When searching for a replacement, Dietrich says his positive experience with Xerox encouraged him to stick with the company. Previously, the next step up from the 700 was the DocuColor 8000, but Dietrich says that option was too expensive.

However, when the Versant 2100 entered the market, Dietrich says it provided a more affordable way to both increase his speed on heavyweight duplexing jobs and stick with Xerox. Printing and Duplicating Services installed the press in December and started running jobs on it in January.

The new press joined an entirely digital Xerox fleet, which also includes a Xerox Nuvera 100 for black-and-white printing and a Xerox 4595 copier/printer. The in-plant also runs a Xanté envelope press.

Though the new press has only been up and running for a few months, Dietrich says he has already seen noticeable improvements. In addition to speed, he says the Versant 2100 has generated higher quality prints with denser solids and includes additional features that have helped the in-plant.

Particularly, he says the new press has automation features that were not available on the in-plant’s previous press. It has an auto color calibration feature, which eliminates the manual calibrating procedure the in-plant had to endure with the 700. Dietrich says he uses Xerox’s FreeFlow front end, which helps with the color management process.

The Versant 2100 also provides auto front-to-back registration, which saves time and helps with the frequent duplexing jobs the in-plant runs.

“Almost everything we do is duplexing and is two-sided,” he says. “Being a digital shop, on our heavyweight stuff, we have to crease it before folding it so it doesn’t crack. Having that auto front-to-back registration is very helpful when we go to fold or crease a sheet.”

Inline Booklet Maker: Icing on the Cake

When the new press was installed, Dietrich says the in-plant enhanced it further by adding an inline attached booklet maker. This was done specifically to improve the production process on an informational piece from the admissions department that the in-plant generates.

Dietrich explains that the piece contains multiple variable data elements and includes information explaining the acceptance process and specific scholarship or grant information for that individual prospective student. The ability to run this job inline with the Versant 2100 was another convincing factor that led to the decision to acquire the equipment.

“It was icing on the cake,” he says. “When we originally were doing this job, we were going to run it on an offline booklet maker. In the particular deal we set up with Xerox on the Versant, we asked that the booklet maker be included because we knew we had this job running and expanding.”

Despite the digital press being in its infancy at Embry-Riddle, Dietrich says he is satisfied with his decision to stick with Xerox. He explains that in addition to the impressive quality, Printing and Duplicating Services has benefitted from the high level of support it receives from Xerox.

“We’ve been extremely happy with Xerox for 15 years, having one 800 number to call whether we’re having software or hardware issues,” he says. “Xerox has earned their way to stand in this shop by their service and support.”