The PBS tradition of innovation
An IT company specialising in electronic payment processing, Denmark’s PBS develops and operates payment systems and payroll solutions both for the web and physical world. As the company grows, so do its print volumes, and PBS now turns out a massive 160 million prints a year. In the 35 years of its history, PBS has taken its business beyond Denmark’s borders and become a key international player in the markets it serves.

Flexibility for the requirements of today and tomorrow
One important business of PBS is printing transactional-type jobs—all of which are highly confidential—for banks and insurance companies. But PBS is also looking to expand beyond its traditional segments and enter the Print on Demand and graphic arts business. The company needed a digital press that works equally well for both these sides of the business: in short, a system that can handle converging applications. “Océ CX technology is the only one the market that is able to fulfil these different requirements without compromise on one single system,” says Hans Henrik Poulsen, logistics manager for PBS. “This ability will be key to opening new business opportunities in new segments.”

Major competitive advantage by being first
PBS is a committed innovator, and is keen to leverage its competitive advantage by being the first with new technology. “We hadn’t actually seen the machine when we signed the contract,” says Hans Henrik Poulsen. “But we know the Océ organisation and product quality, so we agreed to be “guinea pigs” for the new Océ VarioStream. Of course, we carry the risk associated with any glitches that have to be ironed out along the way, but we gain a major competitive advantage by getting the machine before anyone else. Our print quality is significantly better and our production times have been reduced considerably. I also believe that Océ is pleased to be able to make a positive impression within the print market for continuous forms.”

5 million billing statements in 4-5 days
Printing the billing statements is a huge challenge, and time is always at a premium. PBS has a window of just four to five days to print 5 million documents and insert them into envelopes for mailing. The Océ VarioStream prints 50% faster than PBS was used to from its installed printers (of a different vendor): an enormous gain in productivity. But printing speed is not the only factor impacting on productivity. Print quality on the new digital press is sharper and clearer, and this enables the camera equipment on inserters to achieve much higher read rates for the barcodes that control post-processing. Consequently, PBS can minimise the risk of time-consuming production stoppages.

Online lifeline
As part of the agreement, Océ required their technicians in the Poing plant in South Germany to have an online connection to the machine to monitor the production process and make corrections if necessary. But, as Poulsen points out, “There has been no need for this, and we and Océ- Danmark have been able to deal with everything ourselves.“

 

Further improvements at PBS
The Océ VarioStream and new postprocessing equipment are just the start of improvements at PBS. Hans Henrik Poulsen explains the company’s plans. “The next step will be to switch entirely to roll feed. We can print 90,000 A4 pages per roll, which is a big improvement over our current cutsheet input solution with approximately 15,000 pages per stack.” There will be far less operator intervention during production, which would give PBS a more streamlined, efficient workflow. PBS is already moving ahead, convinced that the new Océ VarioStream 7650 CX is the right platform for converging print applications. “Due to the excellent start with the first engine, we have already installed a second Océ VarioStream 7650 CX and have secured an option for one more,” says Hans Henrik Poulsen. “So we will be well equipped to face the challenges of the future.”