ABCO Installs Two Oce VarioPrint 6200 Digital Perfecting Systems

Founded as a trade bindery by Harry L. Kaplan in 1956, ABCO quickly grew to become one of the area’s most respected print service providers. Consistently focused on innovation, Kaplan prided himself on keeping ABCO on the cutting edge of technology. Along the way, ABCO found its niche serving many of the nation’s largest pharmaceutical, medical device and aviation companies.

Today, ABCO stands tall as one of the oldest, largest and most progressive print and marketing service providers in the Southwest. Using a mix of digital, offset and screen printing techniques, the company serves training and marketing departments in Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 companies, as well as smaller businesses, both domestically and internationally. Its output includes manuals, wide-format posters, banners, marketing fulfillment and collateral, along with custom vinyl and poly loose-leaf products.

As the nation struggled to emerge from the recent recession, ABCO sought to increase revenue by adding new companies to its existing customer base. At the same time, its equipment vendor modified ABCO’s service agreement, creating a less-than-cost-friendly environment. Those two converging factors led ABCO to make an investment in new monochrome printing equipment. That is what led them to Canon Solutions America and specifically to the Océ VarioPrint 6200.

“I’d heard nothing but positive things about this series of printers over the years,” said Tony Littleton, vice president of manufacturing. “I had real world colleagues who were telling me how well this equipment worked for them – that was a major selling point.”

Just three months after resolving to purchase new equipment, ABCO invested in not one, but two Océ VarioPrint 6200 systems, replacing three existing monochrome digital printing systems.

According to Francis A. McMahon, vice president, marketing, Production Print Solutions division of Canon Solutions America, the Océ VarioPrint 6200 was the ideal choice for ABCO because it enhances its ability to keep up with its customers’ ever-changing demands.

“In today’s fast-paced business world—and especially in the industries that ABCO serves—you can’t always print a bunch of materials and warehouse them,” noted McMahon. “The Océ VarioPrint 6200 gives ABCO the flexibility to handle revisions and print materials on demand when necessary.”

ABCO’s first Océ VarioPrint 6200 was installed in just one day in mid-November, with the second system arriving just before the end of the year.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had the installation of a major piece of equipment go as smoothly,” said Littleton. “It was installed without any problems, followed by two days of training for our operators, and we were off and running.

ABCO has reaped a number of benefits since installing the two Océ VarioPrint 6200 systems. Along with a significant increase in machine uptime in ABCO’s digital monochrome department, the Company’s newfound ability to print on lighter-weight paper has enabled the printer to shift some pharmaceutical projects from offset to short-run digital.