Educational Printing Services Limited

Educational Printing Services Ltd goes full colour!

eprint — Tue, 31 May 2011 10:56:38 +0000

In the past we have been reluctant to sell colour print, as our capacity to produce full colour work on a competitive basis was limited.

With the introduction of the Konica Minolta C5501 we wish to develop our colour print sales and are actively seeking colour work.

The C5501 is an interim model, that we do not plan to keep on a long term basis and there are already plans in place to upgrade to the next model.

The types of full colour product now available, using this colour machine are:

A5/A4/A3 Leaflets – 1 and 2 sided
Brochures
Business Cards
Comp Slips
Colour Covers for Reading Together’s, Homework Diaries, Exercise Books etc
Colour pages for Spiral Diaries or bespoke books
Variable Data work – eg mail merges in full colour (used in sales and marketing literature)

Specification

33 A3 Copies per minute
Max Resolution 600 x 1800 dpi
Paper Size up to A3+
Paper weight 64 gsm – 256 gsm (300 gsm from bypass tray)
Paper feed 2,500 sheets
Paper output 3,000 sheets
Paper and toner refill on-the-fly (whilst the machine is printing) enables continual printing.

If you have any enquiries for the above products, or something else that you feel we are now able to help you with, please call Laura Edwards on 01254 686503.

New staff member appointed

eprint — Tue, 31 May 2011 10:47:08 +0000

We have now appointed a new Sales Administration Assistant, Michelle Cook, to the team. Michelle will be working for the majority of time with Laura Edwards in the reseller department, processing orders, chasing proofs and deliveries etc, and the rest of the time working with the Sales Office Manager, Linda Holden, on any duties as and when required.

Michelle is currently in training, and is getting up to speed quickly. We have no doubt that she will be an expert in just a couple of short weeks!

Happy New Year!

eprint — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 12:59:54 +0000

Happy New Year from everyone here at Educational Printing Services Ltd!

We wish you every success in the year ahead.

Our Bourg has been assimilated!

eprint — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 10:35:47 +0000

The first stage in the process of transforming our site to the 5s system, was to begin with our Bourg Booklet making area.

This is how the area looked before we started our basic 5s implementation. You can see that paper under the machine was difficult to clear away due to wiring blocking access, also note general clutter in the area and excess stock in on the table. The area in general was hard to work in due to not being able to find the correct tools and items being in the way.

The first steps were to Sort, Straighten and Sweep actions in the area. Most of the items were moved to the “red tagging area”. These items will be held there until it is certain that we do not require them to produce goods on the Bourg machine. We also decided to freshen up the paintwork on the floor to give the area the best 5s start we could.

3 hours later, a clean and safe area in which to operate has been created. Everything needed to operate this machine has a place in which to live and should any item be missing, it is now obvious. More equipment and parts for a shadow baord have been ordered so that everything is to hand in order for the area to run more effectively.

Whilst the area, and the rest of the site are a long way from being complete, this is a brilliant start to implementing our new 5s system.

Selling into Education

eprint — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 10:13:17 +0000

Schools, Colleges and Universities are a great source of business as no doubt you may be aware. Over the past 35 years, Educational Printing Services Ltd has been selling to schools directly and has its own excellent customer base, however, this mainly consists of primary schools. The real spenders are the secondary, private and independent schools. During the past three years, we have been selling our products through resellers and have found huge potential and a definite requirement for our products.

We have found that secondary, private and independent schools prefer to deal face to face as they are usually talking higher volumes of products which in turn leads to a greater overall spend. We do not have our own sales force calling on this business and over the past couple of years; we have found that resellers excel in this area.

Sales Process

The cold call process for any sales representative is the hardest, whether you call by phone or in person. Be sure to let your buyer know that you can talk to them about personalised books, this can give you an edge over your competitors.

Ensure that you take samples of our products to your visit, the quality of our books is excellent and the samples will show how personalisation is displayed on the books. This can be a deciding factor for your buyer, regardless of the price.

Your buyers need to understand the colour options available for exercise books in both sizes – 9″ x 7″ and A4, be sure to explain this from the corresponding colour swatches, also explain the sample pages in the sample exercise books and go through the various rulings that we offer. Remember, we can offer alternatives – ask for quotations if you need them!

During the sales process, you will need to keep track of your buyers requirements, for this we provide standard order forms that will allow you to track quantities, colours and ruling references.

Be sure to obtain information about personalisation and ask your customer for their image in PDF or JPEG format. If this is not available, you can take other forms of such as letterhead, compliments slips etc, but remember, the quality of the cover depends on the quality of the image we have to work with.

Tips

Sowing the seeds early with your buying contacts is the key to winning the business from schools. The best time to start talking to your clients is from December onward. Whilst many schools may not place their orders untiol May / June, if you leave your introductions too late, you will miss the boat.

Personalised and bespoke products require a little more effort than selling books off the shelves, however, the profit margin is greater, as is the overall order value and you can assist your customer in building a great image. Take time and care to ensure that you ascertain all the information from your customer to ensure that you can relay this to our team.

We offer non standard lines which can be printed on demand, so don’t be afraid to ask.

Your customers may ask for books that can no longer be sourced from other suppliers, if you can send us a copy, we can quote prices based on a sample.

Standard rulings are generally cheaper than bespoke rulings, as we mass produce standard rulings during our quiet period and store them ready for use, whereas bespoke rulings are printed on demand.

If you are not sure, the best thing is just to ask. We are here to help you to gain the most from our products and services.

The 5s Principles

eprint — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 11:24:47 +0000

5s is a continuous cycle and in order, means:

1. Sorting – separating the things that you need from the things that you don’t. Removing what is not essential from the work area. This will help to tidy the work area, free floor space, reduce inventory and free up resources

2. Setting in order / straightening / simplifying – Organising the work area, so that everything is easy to see, obtain and return. ” A place for everything and everything in it’s place.”

3. Sweeping / shining / systematic cleaning - wash, dust, clean and sweep everything! Cleaning is a way of improving overall safety and of inspecting as you proceed. This will show up areas of developing problems so that they can be fixed before they become more serious.

4. Standardising - Having standards in place to make sure that everything is kept where it is supposed to. This includes things such as a cleaning schedule, visual controls, ways to prevent the area from becoming dirty, audit schedules and checklists with posted results.

5. Sustaining- To sustain the system is the most integral part of the cycle, doing the work initially but not sticking with it will mean that slowly but surely, you will end up back at square one. An audit process and to follow up the findings is essential here.

Live lean and prosper!

eprint — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 14:20:47 +0000

At Educational Printing Services, we have begun our first steps to becoming a lean manufacturer.

This will enable us to be more competitive within the market and to be a more productive and efficient company.

We are currently implementing a 5S program within our production department to give us better work place organisation. This program will reduce our costs, provide better quality, improve safety, increase productivity and increase employee satisfaction.

We see these as key pillars in our business that we wish to focus on, in order to becoming lean.

Our Production Director, Nick Roberts and Engineering Manager, Russ Dawson, have both come to us from Blue Chip companies that are run fully upon lean principles. As our resident experts, they are the ones that are driving us forward in this process, and we look forward to seeing the improvements and changes that they are making and how this will impact upon our service to you.

If you have any questions on what we are implementing and what it should mean for you as a customer, please do not hesitate to contact Laura Edwards on 01254 686503.

We think pink!

eprint — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 16:03:57 +0000

Over the month of October, we at Educational Printing Services Ltd decided to raise money for the Breast Cancer Awareness month and donate the funds raised to Cancer Research UK, a company close to Laura’s heart.

Over the course of the month, we had in place a company swear box, played a “Name the Duck” game, sold biscuits and cakes to the staff and also just put our change into the collection tin. To support our fundraising efforts, our generous MD, David Pickering agreed to donate 10% of the gross profit on all pink exercise books sold in the month of October to our fundraising total.

In the end we raised £206.87 for the charity and hope that our contribution will help the vital work being undertaken at Cancer Research UK to find the cure.

Free marketing leaflets available for a limited period!

eprint — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 10:52:32 +0000

Now that the 2010 campaigns to schools have finished, we have discovered that we have some leaflets left that may help with boosting your sales during this quieter period.

Schools are currently looking to top up their orders from the summer after discovering that they may have missed ordering items or have under ordered on certain products. The perfect time for you to be approaching them!

The design for the leaflet is available on PDF upon request from Laura, then just let her know how many you would like and we will send them out to you free of charge!

Educational Printing Services operates from site of prominent local history

eprint — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 19:46:07 +0000

Production Director, Nick Roberts made an exciting discovery whilst researching Blackburn’s local history recently.

It would seem that Educational Printing Services operates from the same site as the famous British Northrop Loom Co Ltd once did!

British Northrop was one of Blackburn’s most successful companies, established in 1902 to build textile looms designed by J. H. Northrop of Hopedale, USA. The Northrop Automatic Loom was revolutionary in its time. It used a rotating magazine to keep the shuttle constantly supplied with cotton thread and could be run 24 hours a day, stopping itself automatically when threads broke, thus negating the need for skilled weavers unlike in times past where they were essential. The role of the weaver was changed forever, they could now tend more looms – meaning fewer were employed in mills. New Northrop factories were built in Blackburn before and after WWI – by the 1950s Northrop employed over 3000 operatives, producing an average of 10,000 looms a year. These were exported across the globe and had a huge impact on developing third world economies. In fact, the worldwide success of the Northrop Automatic Loom contributed directly to the rapid post-war decline of Lancashire’s own cotton industry.

Taken from the article Northrop ‘Model T’ Automatic Loom (BBC.co.uk)

10-02-2011 – Reseller Training Day

eprint — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 17:17:04 +0000

A FREE half-day intensive training to current and potential resellers of our products, which will be useful both to businesses already serving the education market and those who are looking to enter into this niche area.

Designed to provide you with extensive information on our product range and bespoke printing opportunities, but also to give you and your sales team the confidence and knowledge to increase sales to your customers.

Meet with our reseller support team as we share our long standing experiences within the education market.

Full training packs provided and is fully catered throughout the course of the day.