Perfect Image

As a trusted partner to all kinds of clients, commercial printer and marketing services provider Perfect Image knew its growth depended on refining its processes to better address clients' needs. From bottle-neck-stopping software to error-eliminating color management technology, Kodak's leading prepress solutions streamlined workflow, maximized productivity and boosted quality, with dramatic results.

Workflow is the hub of any printing business and where it gets over-complicated, problems creep in. With a commitment to grow and an approach that always puts clients first, Perfect Image emerged from the pandemic – like many print businesses – with a challenge on its hands. Identifying how and where to invest to be a better partner to clients in a competitive landscape was proving difficult.

Using offset and digital print technologies, the firm supports complex workflows for variable data print jobs, wide-format requirements, specialty printing, post-press finishing, kit packing and assembly, and distribution and tracking. All this had created a set of processes which needed unpicking to find the best way forward.

To help guide the decision-making, they brought in independent consultant Meredith Nichols and tasked her with shaping a plan to engage with and cater for their clients, while still delivering exceptional print. Drawing on decades of commercial print experience, Nichols took a deep dive into the firm's workflow and operations, as well as the ambitions of their current and future business. She boiled down the complexities to fundamental aspects, looked for issues and spotted opportunities for improvement.

Automating aspects of the workflow is a powerful fix for businesses looking to become more productive, as it reduces many of the redundant and human error-prone steps in the printing process. After rigorous auditing, testing and analysis, Nichols concluded that KODAK PRINERGY Connect automation software was the best investment for Perfect Image, keeping cost, quality and business risk in control, while freeing up the company's leaders to focus on strategic goals.

By automating every core function from job submission through print output, PRINERGY Connect enabled Perfect Image to reduce manual touchpoints and identify costly errors before they occurred, elevating productivity and reliability throughout a streamlined, integrated print operation.

Alongside reliable workflow, consistent, accurate color is at the core of a successful print business. To achieve this, Nichols also recommended KODAK COLORFLOW Pro, software that integrates the many devices in a typical print production environment to ensure color control elements, curves, profiles and spot color recipes are used correctly together, for stable, top-quality color.

Finally, for Perfect Image's ambition to be the best partner it could be, Nichols' pointed the team to KODAK INSITE Solutions, Kodak's prepress web portal that would let the firm and its clients collaborate on print jobs remotely, in real-time.

Thanks to these strategic investments in Kodak technology, Perfect Image is now processing more jobs with the same staff capacity. They've improved their proof-to-press match and digital-to-litho match, elevating the print quality significantly, to the extent that when clients first saw the difference, they were calling the firm to ask if they had a new press in the shop.

On top of heightened client satisfaction and increased revenue, Perfect Image has also been able to take full advantage of the new workflow to evaluate job responsibilities and free up the team to focus on forward planning and customer experience. PRINERGY Workflow solutions, COLORFLOW Pro software and INSITE Solutions had such positive results they gave the leadership team the confidence to invest in a new flatbed wide format press and develop a plan that ties digital, offset, and wide format devices into a common workflow.

For Perfect Image, a more productive, efficient, profitable future really did lie in the everyday operational differences of a better workflow. With the right enterprise investments they were able to open the door to higher client satisfaction and revenue, with everyone reaping the rewards.