The Graphic Sign has a long history as a provider of printing services in Valencia. The activity arises, more than 50 years ago, from the printing workshops of the Semana Gráfica newspaper. After the disappearance of this publication, the workshops continued working in the center of Valencia until, about 15 years ago, they were moved to an industrial area on the outskirts of the city, in the town of Alboraya, where they are located in the at the same time making the change of name to the Graphic Sign.
Graphic sign is engaged in the activity of commercial printing company with significant specialization in the production of magazines. «We have a complete production system perfect for making magazines since we have from prepress to binding«, Says Nacho Bellver, manager of Signo Gráfico. «By having the entire process in the same plant, we can respond efficiently to the tight deadlines imposed by the production of magazines, especially in the case of the many weeklies that we print.«.
The basis of the graphic sign printing processes has been offset and, for a short time, digital printing. Signo GRAPHIC has a long relationship with OMC Sae, distributor for Spain of MGI digital printing and finishing equipment, since its offset printing park is made up of Komori equipment, which is also distributed by OMC, sae.
The evolution of the demand for printing is moving towards increasingly shorter runs. «Magazines that previously printed fifteen to twenty thousand copies are coming out with seven or eight thousand«, Explains Nacho Bellver. «And, as a result of the crisis, many of the print runs have dropped to an average of two thousand or two thousand five hundred copies with a significant reduction in the number of pages in each magazine.«.
One of the strengths that Signo Gráfico has is that there are few printers that have the necessary capacity to do all the service that a weekly needs without depending on third parties. «The entry of press competition into small magazine runs has made long, eight-press offset presses unprofitable«, Explains Nacho Bellver.
This framework of demand shifting is what has led the company's initiative towards more dynamic solutions. The need to look for alternatives in digital printing led them to visit the OMC Sae facilities in Madrid where they were able to carry out tests on the MGI Meteor DP60 Pro. «We liked the way the team worked and the quality of the tests so much that we made the decision to acquire it almost immediately.«, Explains Nacho Bellver. «The growth of the company's business will come hand in hand with digital printing«.
The evolution of equipment has implied the replacement of a 50 × 60 cm offset press by the digital press MGI Meteor DP60 Pro that has absorbed all the work that was done on the offset machine as well as new applications that can only be done with digital printing.
Designed for printing high volumes of material, the MGI Meteor DP60 Pro can produce up to 3,900 A4 / letter size sheets; o1,600 sheets of 330 x 650 mm; or up to 32,000 ISO CR-80 PVC plastic cards, per hour in four-color and with variable information. Supports sizes up to 330 x 1,020 mm thanks to its new super wide format mode.
The change in production activity has resulted in a rationalization of the company's workforce to adapt it to the optimization of processes that digital printing allows. «In the company we have restructured the staff from the 26 people, which we needed when our activity was purely offset printing, to the 16 that we are now«, Explains Nacho Bellver. "This dimension is more appropriate for the movement we are making towards digital production."
Since the installation of the MGI Meteor DP60 Pro, The Graphic Sign has made a fundamental change when it comes to the philosophy of the printing business and its application. «For those who come from offset it is a very big change, and very positive once the differences are accepted«, Says Nacho Bellver. «The speeds are very different, however the versatility that size allows and the ability to print small runs more than compensate for these differences. For example, we recently made large-format prints for decoration of a 90 and 110 cm long stand. Practically no one is capable of doing this type of work with competitive times and prices.«.
«One of the new initiatives that we are launching a service for the production of photobooks with a web front that is specially designed for digital production with the Meteor DP60 Pro«, Says Nacho Bellver. «The web ordering system is very simplified and allows the mockup to be received within 24 hours for review and approval. We have important facilities, such as payment through Paypal«.
In addition to this new initiative, they have a complete web to print application, www.signograficodigital.com, for your commercial printing customers. «Customers are receiving very well the products printed with the MGI Meteor DP60 Pro since, although the unit cost is higher, it allows to adjust the orders to the quantities that are really required without having to assume unnecessary excesses«, Explains Enric Cuixeres, OMC commercial manager for the Levante area. «The benefit is both for the customer and for whoever prints it. And it is the main reason why there are already more than a dozen MGI equipment installed in Spain since the launch of the brand in mid-2009.«.
«I believe that the future is digital printing and that offset production will lose relevance«, Says Nacho Bellver. «Especially considering that a press like the MGI Meteor DP60 Pro makes prints that are exactly the same as offset technology, no difference is noticeable. This machine prints very well«.
