Case Study: PC Creative Services

Getting creative with new business opportunities via faster, more accurate production printing.

About PC Creative Services

For more than 40 years, PC Mailing Services operated as a mailing house before expanding digital print operations and changing its name to PC Creative Services. The San Antonio-based, family-owned company now touts itself as a one-stop marketing resource with digital, print, mail and design services. The one thing that has never changed is an unrelenting passion to put every client's needs first.

"It gives us that 'wow' factor we were looking for to help us sell more print."
Ronnie Cain
General Manager
PC Creative Services

Challenge

After more than 40 years, it was time for a family-owned mailing house to rebrand. Committed to its "customer first" motto, the company wanted to evolve to accommodate its clients' ever-changing expectations.

The company changed its name to PC Creative Services and added high-volume digital print services. Unfortunately, the digital equipment they chose didn't live up to the manufacturer's promises. Consistent downtime led to lost revenue. Plus, registration and color correction was inconsistent and time-consuming. As a result, the company outsourced many jobs to another print shop just to meet deadlines.

Solution

After a showroom demonstration, PC Creative Services was sold on the crisp, clear images and registration found on the RICOH Pro C9110,
Pro C7110X and Pro 8120e production printers.

PC Creative Services wanted more than promises that Ricoh's production printers could do the job. Company leaders wanted proof. That's why when the general manager and a senior manager visited Ricoh's Dallas showroom for a demonstration, they brought along files to test on the devices.

"One of the files we brought was a real estate brochure," said Ronnie Cain, General Manager. "It was just so awesome to see that brochure come off the Pro C9110 without having to do any color or image adjustments."

Cain brought samples back to share with the rest of the team. Everybody was impressed with the exceptional images that captured even the finest details. Plus, they were excited about using the Pro C7110X and its fifth color station to use clear or white toner and print on new types of substrates, including window clings and metallic papers, to capture new revenue streams.

"It gives us that 'wow' factor we were looking for to help us sell more print," said Cain. "It wasn't something anyone was doing yet in our area."

For its high-volume, black-and-white applications, PC Creative Services chose the Pro 8120e with inline Plockmatic Booklet Making System. The production press produces output quickly with 4800 x 1200 dpi, making it the affordable workhorse device Cain was seeking.

Result

The company added the Ricoh digital presses during its re-branding initiative.

"You name an application and we print it on those presses," said Cain. "When we saw that we were able to be more creative, the company named itself."

PC Creative Services completes all jobs in-house, which has improved the bottom line by 20 percent. With the fifth color station, the company can use clear or white toner to produce more types of projects and capture more opportunities. In addition, the company has added revenue streams via variable printing for several customers, including non-profit clients and a large local credit bureau.

Another large client requests up to 125,000 variable data prints per week. Such a project required two days of preparation and 1.5 days to print using the previous manufacturer's presses. With its preset settings, extensive paper library and Media Identification Unit, the Pro C9110 has increased productivity significantly.

"The prep work alone was 40 percent faster," said Cain. "We actually saved about three hours running it, which translates into hard dollar savings."

Cain and his team isn't content to stand still. PC Creative Services wants to grow even more and continues to impress clients and prospects with high-quality output at affordable prices.

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