SP Group, the UK’s leading retail marketing services business and one of Europe’s largest POS production specialists, has increased production efficiency and achieved significant ink savings by investing in a full suite of Alwan Color Expertise Technology. The software solution, which was installed by Alwan’s Expert UK Distributor, Colour Engine, comprises Alwan CMYK Optimizer ECO, Alwan Print Standardizer, Print Standardizer Viewer and Alwan Print Verifier.
“Alwan is delivering real cost savings - we are confident of at least 10% savings and above - but to look at the end result, you wouldn’t have thought we were using less ink as our print looks as good as it has always done,” says Nick Stevens, Technical Director at SP Group.
SP Group has a complicated production set-up with a mix of both digital, Screen Print and litho output. For over two years Nick Stevens meticulously researched and tested all the solutions on the market.
“We needed a solution that would simplify and automate production at SP Group whilst delivering ink savings and reliable, consistent print across all platforms,” says Nick Stevens. “Out of all the products we looked at, Alwan ticked the most boxes and importantly, plugged into our existing Dalim workflow so we were able to avoid the expense and disruption of a whole new installation.”
SP Group produces various retail advertising elements for one campaign on different output devices and it is vital that the quality and colour of the images is consistent even though one element has been produced digitally and the other litho. “The Alwan solution is configurable to all our different processes and we find it fast and easy to maintain,” continues Nick Stevens. “Colour Engine has been really helpful and they really know Alwan well. I would recommend them to anyone as technology partners.”
SP Group production includes one Inca Onset S70; two Inca Colombias; two HP DesignJets; four HP Indigo 5500; three Epson printers for proofing, two Lamdas and a KBA 205 large format litho press.
