Elektronsko Pismo Pošte Slovenije (EPPS)

Kyocera’s Inkjet Solutions create New Business Opportunities in Production Print

Due to business digitalization, volumes of printed documents for document-driven sectors such as banks, insurance companies, energy, and utilities are decreasing. However, print will never disappear entirely, and EPPS remains committed to transactional printing. Moreover, they are exploring new business opportunities such as printing personalized marketing materials, brochures, and even books, whereby Kyocera's professional TASKalfa 15000C solution opens the door for new opportunities.

BACKGROUND

EPPS company (Elektronsko Pismo Pošte Slovenije), the daughter company of Slovenian Post, has been operating for over two and a half decades. In recent years EPPS has become known as the largest variable data printing center and related services provider in the wider region. Efficiency at work is a priority for the company, with just over 50 employees managing 7 million postal shipments monthly, and more than 140 million printouts annually. With state-of-the-art technology and redundancy backup for printing centers in Ljubljana and Zagreb, EPPS ensures quick responses and the highest level of reliability for its partners.

CHALLENGES

+ The majority of printing was done through exceptional line printers, printed on paper rolls, while about a tenth of EPPS’s printing tasks  consisted of smaller print jobs, but in substantial numbers.”Three years ago, EPPS were printing jobs that required “only” a few dozen prints, and perhaps packing into envelopes, using color laser printers. But these proved unreliable.

+ The color toner laser printers used before integration of Kyocera’s Inkjet
production print solution had ongoing issues: even having two engine lines of hardware  occasionally fell short. This put the company in a difficult position due to short order fulfillment deadlines for transactional personalized mailings often with only a few hours available to deliver. 

+ Another issue “Laser printers heated the paper while printing, causing it to bend, and resulting in additional issues in the subsequent process, especially in physical envelope stuffing,” said Iztok Pečak, Production manager at EPPS, in describing the previous situation.

+ During high loads, when EPPS had to print larger quantities of documents with color laser printers in a short time, they faced additional problems. Often, toners started leaking excessive color, smudging documents as well as the printer itself, leading to malfunctions or even termination of the printing process. This of course required additional operator interventions and maintenance service costs.

SOLUTION

+ Due to these serious business challenges, EPPS sought a suitable replacement for laser printers, however there were only a few “industrial” inkjet printers available on the market. Through thorough research of providers and devices, in 2020, they opted to invest in Kyocera’s TASKalfa Pro 15000c inkjet solution.  This device prints approximately a half million documents each month, ensuring exceptional speed and  reliability. As it is a water-based, inkjet solution, the paper path is entirely flat throughout the process, and inkjet technology does not heat the paper. The lower temperature process provides additional benefits for reliability of further mechanical processing—sorting and stuffing envelopes.      

RESULTS

+ Today, EPPS cannot imagine their working process without Kyocera’s inkjet solution. This much-improved solution has impressed employees due to its high productivity, improved reliability, and quality technical support. Ease of use—setting up and starting a task - is practically equal to home printers. This greatly simplifies printing smaller batches of transactional documents. Faster print preparation and quick changes in printing jobs significantly contribute to high productivity, thereby creating more opportunities for business success. Importantly, there are considerably fewer stops or maintenance required with this solution.

+ Top-notch support is invaluable. In such critical business environments, differences in support from individual manufacturers, or their authorized service providers, have become evident. When it comes to Kyocera’s support, the Production manager of EPPS was truly impressed: “The support is top-notch. Kyocera’s printing machine monitors all operating parameters and constantly informs both me and the maintenance partner, who’s support is incredibly responsive. They are an example of preventive maintenance service, which is an additional reason why we have complete trust in Kyocera.”