When Peacock Brothers reviewed the workflow of their Australian centre for digital printing based in Sydney, and what clients were asking for, it became apparent the company required additional capacity for the short-run, top quality colour work. Acccording to Peacock’s operations Manager and Director, Andrew Crump, Peacock’s digital business has grown exponentially. “We recognised changes in the market place as companies were driving towards shorter runs; shorter lead times, and more variable data.
“Our existing HP Indigos were over-loaded and we couldn’t produce the work fast enough. Being overloaded with work, the natural progression was to install another press. We looked at the other technologies that had come on to the market in recent times and asked ourselves: “Do we purchase another HP6800 to expand capacity, or look to the future of digital technology? Peacocks has always prided itself on continuing to move with the times, in ways that will help us better serve our customers.”
Andrew said over a 7-8 month period, they assessed all new printing systems that had come to the market since they bought their first HP Indigo, but the committee of review kept coming back to the same fact – HP Indigo offered superior print quality overall, a quality that you could comfortably supply to any customer. “Some of the other technologies we reviewed
– although advancing – had limited print abilities which would be a targeted sell.”
Andrew said Peacocks had been very happy with the HP Indigo family they had installed, and everyone on the floor in
Sydney was familiar with them. “They make them sing.” So after a lot of soul searching, Peacocks came down on the side of the HP Indigo 8000 Digital Press, the first of its kind in the Australasian region. “We have a great relationship with Currie Group. They suggested the HP8000 model would give us the flexibility for longer variable runs at a similar price point to previous models.
“The cross-over point varies from job to job. The HP8000 has opened new doors for variable print runs. Doubling the print speed, means we have now increased the digital/flexo cross- over point to 7000-8000 lin. metres, which previously sat around 3,000 lineal metres. We can now offer all the benefits of digital to a greater reach of customers at a competitive price.”
Andrew said the HP8000 also allowed them to use HP Indigo ElectroInk which consists of minute ink particles that delivered a sharper, brighter high resolution print. Its One Shot technology delivers accurate and repeatable colour-to-colour printing, even on heat sensitive materials. ››
Team members from Peacock Bros. (L-R): Chris Sayers, Barry Hughes and Sydney Production Manager, Carl Dutfield, with the new HP Indigo 8000, are well-versed in HP Indigo production and according to Director, Andrew Crump “make them sing”.
But new presses aren’t the only changes taking place within the Peacock firmament. They have also expanded their new Health Division, which branched-out from their Enterprise Mobility Division, something Andrew is particularly excited about. “It started off when the baby boomers market started
to change, say 5-6 years ago and in the last three years, the healthcare space has escalated. The change to electronic records and the ability to provide better bedside care, has all come to the forefront with the latest technology. So our healthcare area has increased five-fold, and we have been providing everything from washable keyboards, to computers on carts that go through the wards, to mounts for the patient screens and mounts for the nurses’ computer screens mounted on walls.
“The medical records have evolved to the point where we have the ability to provide a wristband printer that allows the ID wristband to be produced for infants’ right through to adults,
in a much more convenient and easy fashion.” Previously, said Andrew, they had a little printer with a paper sticker on it and they would slip it into a sleeve and clip that around the wrist. “Now, it’s an all-in-one piece wristband in just a one-step process. And we can add barcodes to it, so they can scan that to upload the information onto the electronic forms.”
He said this has probably been the biggest innovation in the healthcare market, along with medication distribution, which has come of age using the latest technology and a product called Medilink. “This allows a patient to have their wristband scanned; their name comes up onscreen and a drawer opens with the allocated medication, to eliminate any chance of the wrong medication being given to the wrong patient.
“In the healthcare space, technology is increasing and improving, whether it’s the ability to improve the medication for a patient or the utilisation of a blood pressure monitor installed
into a portable hand-held device. Or integrating a thermometer into a hand-held device – all that technology has now come
of age and is available personalised for an individual patient, in one room, in one ward.
“We’ve seen a significant increase in business in this area and have sales staff around the country and in New Zealand, looking after this aspect, because every healthcare facility is quite unique. It could be a clinical dept. we’re talking to for just one area, perhaps an IT department in another. The common call is for solutions for their particular facility. Scott McKechnie is our NZ representative, covering this area over there.”
56 Labels Plus
