Globe News
Kirkwood Direct boosts direct mail division with Ricoh Pro VC60000

Direct marketing company Kirkwood Direct has partnered with Ricoh to streamline and enhance its variable data printing (VDP) technology.

By implementing a Ricoh Pro VC60000 with new Expanded Gamut Inks, Kirkwood Direct says it expects to significantly reduce time and costs associated with VDP. The partnership makes Kirkwood Direct the first VDP printer in the New England region to implement Ricoh’s Expanded Gamut Inks, allowing the company to deliver near-offset image quality at high speeds, even on coated media, Ricoh says.
 
Kirkwood US began in 1973 with a single press printing technical manuals for Boston-area technology companies. Over the next four decades, the company grew to become a global full-service print communications provider, with in-house services ranging from offset printing, variable data direct mail, database management, mailing services, digital print, wide-format, grand-format printing as well as fulfillment and postal logistic planning.

For the past several years, Kirkwood Direct’s VDP operation relied on the deployment of multiple digital sheetfed presses for production. This approach met the interim needs for VDP, however it was not the company’s long-term strategic solution, it explains. In recent months, Kirkwood Direct’s senior management team made the decision to upgrade technology and invest in new equipment, but they needed a press that could keep up with its customers’ high-volume, fast-turn demands and print to different papers, such as glossy, uncoated stock or cover stock.

“The quality and versatility of our Kirkwood brands had really taken off in recent years, and we knew it was time to take Kirkwood Direct’s capabilities to the next level. Ricoh’s technology perfectly fit our needs and exceeded our expectations, but what really persuaded us was how firmly Ricoh stands behind its products,” said Steven Kuczwara, Vice President of Operations, Kirkwood Direct. “They took us to the Customer Experience Center in Boulder, and let us see firsthand what can be done with the technology, including how spectacular and precise the output is, and how quickly it can be produced.

The Ricoh Pro VC60000 boasts a comprehensive solution for customers looking to expand their digital, inkjet or colour capabilities. The Ricoh printheads and inks, which leverage variable drop technology, are capable of producing physical resolutions of up to 1,200 x 1,200 dpi. It supports a range of fluid types, paper stocks and file formats, including PDF, PDFVT, JDF/JMF, PostScript and AFP/IPDS.