Case Study: Sir Speedy – Tampa, FL

Adding digital capabilities with full-color and wide-format production printers

About Sir Speedy Tampa, Florida

With most family-owned businesses, members can learn from one another. For this inexperienced husband and wife and father-in-law team, however, they had to learn the business together. Purchased in 2002, the Sir Speedy franchise relied primarily on walk-in customers and small businesses. As the owners gained experience, however, they realized they needed to target business from specific industry verticals to significantly improve revenue. This meant they had to expand production capabilities to be a full-service print provider.

"They are a trusted partner. They genuinely care about business."
Steve Albritton
Co-owner
Sir Speedy Tampa, Florida

Challenge

Printed photographs of a cute Beagle dog with his pink ball on a woody desk.

With owners that were new to the print business, this Sir Speedy franchise struggled to differentiate itself from the competition. Part of their growing pains was that they tried to print everything for everyone.

Eventually, the company concentrated on a more select group of full-service customers. The needs of these clients changed quickly, however, as shorter, more timely runs became commonplace. As a result, the company's offset presses were no longer economically feasible. They needed more versatile production equipment that could handle a wider range of output, from short-run brochures to professional signage, more cost effectively.

Solution

Sir Speedy Tampa chose the RICOH Pro C7110X production color system and Mimaki JFX200 wide-format flatbed UV printer to better meet every client's print needs.

Persistence pays off. After years with other manufacturers, the company was ready to purchase their first Ricoh digital production printer. It turned out to be a wise decision.

"We purchased a RICOH Pro 907 primarily to produce forms," said Steve Albritton, Co-owner, Sir Speedy Tampa, Florida. "We found that we were really happy with both the machine and with the service we were receiving from Ricoh."

When the company was ready to upgrade color capabilities, Albritton and other company decision-makers attended a demonstration of the RICOH Pro C7110X production system with a fifth color station. They were excited about the value-added applications the station would introduce, including white printing on metallic sheets. Other Sir Speedy franchisees were at the demonstration and recommended the Mimaki JFX200 wide-format flatbed UV printer. The company decided to purchase both.

The Pro C7110X produces up to 90 color pages per minute (ppm) at up to 1200 x 4800 dpi resolution for near-offset image quality for the shorter, more time-sensitive unique runs that have become more frequent.

"With our old press, if you tried to run clear over a printed piece, it really didn't show up," said Albritton. "The print quality is significantly better on the Pro C7110X. Our plan is to use the clear extensively because it adds a 'wow' factor to the finished pieces."

He was equally impressed with the Mimaki JFX200 wide-format flatbed UV printer. It allows Sir Speedy Tampa to produce more types of projects in-house, including water bottle labels for a prominent customer. They use the 4' x 8' size for short-run jobs such as window clings without wasting substrate. It also prints on more substrates, including Coroplast, foam board, PVC, metal and even wood.

"The registration is spot-on, resulting in print quality that is significantly better," said Albritton.

In addition, the printer's landscape-oriented format enables large point-of-purchase displays and building signage.

Result

With the new Ricoh digital capabilities, Sir Speedy is capturing more business from a growing base of loyal customers. More importantly, they have the versatility to meet print needs as they evolve.

"The growth in signage has been tremendous over the past few years," said Albritton. "If you can produce something larger, the clients want it. The Pro C7110X and JFX200 wide-format flatbed have really helped us increase what we can do for our clients, which has helped us achieve our goal of growing our business into a full-service provider."

He pointed to the company's partnership with us as a large reason for the success.

"They are a trusted partner," he said. "They genuinely care about our business and I know they will continue to focus on producing the highest-quality equipment in the industry. That's all I need to know."

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