QITS: a combination of DP and printing
The Ratingen-based QITS began offering data and document management services just five years ago. Today, the company’s team of 30 staff achieve annual sales in excess of 3 million euros. “We can only do this because of our strict focus on the demands of our customers,” says CEO and owner Johannes Borgmann. And QITS can offer more than printing, finishing and mailing services for bills and direct mail. The company also manages servers and databases and develops web solutions for clients. “Since we combine our data processing, applications and lettershop activities—for instance, when we’re bundling or sorting print data—we always stay one step ahead of the competition, “ says the former software engineer.

 

Wanted: flexible cutsheet presses
Right from the beginning QITS chose digital printing and database-assisted personalisation. QITS obviously placed its stakes right, as more and more customers now have their bills and direct-mail applications printed in Ratingen. A case in point: QITS prints all the promotional mail and journals for Jacques‘ Wein Depot, a wine retailer with 240 branches all over Germany. The lettershop turns out up to 60,000 mail items every day, and the number is climbing steadily. “Given the sheer variety of orders and the rapid job changeovers, we need cutsheet presses that can print different stocks with different grammages and still handle high volumes,” says Johannes Borgmann. When he heard that Océ was going to launch the new Océ VarioPrint 5000, he was keen to pilot-test the system at QITS. “I wanted to put the system through its paces before I buy it,” explains Johannes Borgmann.

 

Ideal partner for pilot-testing
For Océ, QITS is the ideal partner for piloting the Océ VarioPrint 5000. “QITS has been an Océ customer for many years, with a lot of experience in cutsheet printing. And QITS is a critical customer. We’ll profit on every count,“ says Ulrich Hackbarth, Marketing Manager at Océ. Johannes Borgmann sees things the same way: “QITS is just the right place for the Océ VarioPrint 5160. The system is having to print direct mail for a variety of clients, so it’s being tested in exactly the right way.” Moreover, Johannes Borgmann can make a direct comparison between the new system and its predecessor: there are still two Océ Pagestream 158 and an Océ Demandstream 4000 doing excellent service in the QITS lettershop.

 

Productive from the start
The Océ VarioPrint 5160 has been in productive operation since the pilot installation in December 2002. The system prints over 400,000 pages per month—to date without a single glitch. Quite the opposite, in fact: “We achieve up to 10 percent more output than on the Océ Demandstream 4000,” says Johannes Borgmann. Océ has therefore achieved its development goals: to increase productivity not by way of a higher rated output speed but by greater operational stability. In other words: fewer paper input and output jams in day-to-day production, despite the variety of media and grammages being handled. Johannes Borgmann says, “We process a wide range of stocks: preprinted, hole-punched and perforated up to 120 g/m2. The Océ VarioPrint 5160 handles them all with ease.“

 

Océ delivered on every promise
The Océ VarioPrint 5160 prints 160 pages per minute and processes paper up to A3 oversize format. The short paper path and lowtemperature fusing certainly contribute to the high overall output rate, but the main reason is the newly developed pneumatic media feed unit. “Since we’ve had the system, there’s hardly been any problem with paper transport and feed,” says Johannes Borgmann. The QITS director is also delighted that the system can print each sheet up to four times in a single step, with two colours on each side of the paper. Another advance over the predecessor: pages can be printed right to the edge. But he draws a positive conclusion: “I had high expectations of the flexibility, productivity and print quality. And the Océ VarioPrint 5160 has lived up to its promises. I’m already certain that QITS will buy the system.“