Take a profitable trip with personalisation

Rob Fletcher discusses the opportunties for businesses regarding personalisation as long as the right machinery and knowledge is applied. This offers a new world of opportunities for printers.

Perhaps one of the best things about working within the print personalisation market is the sheer scope of work that is on offer. Armed with the right machinery, relevant knowledge and specialist experience, the world is very much your oyster for creating personalised products for consumers across a wide range of markets.

While many minds may immediately be drawn to bespoke clothes and accessories, or even personal items such as mugs and phone cases, the fact of the matter is that personalisation in print has no boundaries. As long as the demand is there from customers, you can deliver bespoke products of all shapes and sizes, depending on the type of kit you have in place.

One excellent example of this theory in action is SAM Cases, a leading manufacturer of bespoke flight, transportation, and protective cases for all applications. Founded back in 1995, SAM Cases jumped on the personalisation train early one and has built up an impressive client base as a result, boasting the likes of BAE Systems, CX Auto Group, ITV, the NHS, Smith Myers Communications Ltd, Starlink, and Qinetiq among its clients.

As it has grown, SAM Cases has continued to expand its printing capabilities to match the expectations of its customers in markets all around the world. The packaging personalisation giant is now equipped to provide digital vinyl printing, flatbed UV printing, screen printing, mould labelling, and vinyl case wrapping, opening up all manner of options for both the company and is customers.

Building a print personalisation arsenal

While SAM Cases has been supplying bespoke items for a number of years, it has only really moved into the personalised branding and graphics sector during the past two years or so. This move led the business to take on several pieces of equipment to ensure it could deliver products in line with customer demand.

Among its current production line-up is Roland DG VersaUV LEC2 S-Series flatbed printer, which it uses for UV printing on personalised items. SAM Cases also runs a VersaUV LEC2-640 for all vinyl printing related enquiries it receives from clients.

“As an established and expanding business, we wanted to move all our printing in-house - and who better to do it with than Roland DG,” SAM Cases’ managing director Mathew Addy said.

“The Roland DG machines, especially the S-Series, enable faster turnarounds due to UV technology, allow us to print above the standard CMYK colour gamut, and print onto virtually any surface - giving us the ability to create totally bespoke packaging.”

Addy picked out the VersaUV S-Series as having been particularly useful in growing its still-relatively new personalised branding and graphics offering. The machine runs ECO-UV 5 inks, which dry immediately under low-temperature LED lamps, making the graphics more robust and helping speed up the process of flatbed printing for adding either corporate branding or personalisation cases.

“Roland DG’s state-of-the-art UV printing technology has not only revolutionised the way that our cases look, but also made the graphics printed onto the cases more robust,” Addy said. “The UV prints last longer than alternative methods and mean that our customers hardly have to come back to us due to colour fading or damage.”

Considering the cost factor

Addy went on to say the use of VersaUV LEC2 S-Series has helped the company save on costs when producing personalised items. Operating the machine means SAM Cases has access to Roland DG’s ‘take up system’, which allows users to automatically wind up printed material and manage unmanned production.
 
This includes a front-mounted take-up roller and advanced tension-controlled take-up unit for optimum media feeding and tracking. Addy said this has allowed SAM Cases to save on labour and man hours while running longer monitored runs, with this in turn having a significant cost-saving impact.
 
“Roland DG are constantly looking out for their customers, with products that are efficient, and environmentally considerate,” Addy said.

While on the subject of costs, it is also important to address something of an elephant in the room: the cost of buying personalised items. Obviously, purchasing something like a suitcase that has been personalised will cost the consumer more than a plain case they can pick up cheaper online or at their local discount store.

However, looking at the present market and demand for personalisation, this suggest that consumers are still willing to pay more for these types of products, despite being faced with a cost-of-living crisis and a tricky economic environment.

Recent research from Deloitte appears to back this up. The study found that one in five of the consumers who expressed an interest in personalised products would be happy to pay a 20% premium to secure their goods. Demand is certainly there if you can approach the market in the right manner.

Learn more at the FESPA’s Personalisation Experience 2024

For further insight into this sector and the segments that offer opportunities to those in the print sector, the FESPA Global Print Expo 2024 will play host to a dedicated area that will showcase growth markets to visitors.

The Personalisation Experience returns for the second year at the FESPA Global Print Expo, allowing visitors to dive deeper into the latest developments and technology within personalised print solutions and network with peers.

Covering key areas such as sportswear, packaging, labels and interiors, the Personalisation Experience 2024 will run alongside the FESPA Global Print Expo 2024 from 19-22 March in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Register to visit here and use promo code PEXJ402 and save €55 on your entry ticket before 19th January 2024.