Things to Consider When Selecting Your Production Print Service Provider
Businesses within the print industry regularly contend with a multitude of pressures – but aligning with a dynamic provider can make all the difference.
The metric for success for a Production Print service provider should be measured by the success of its clients. For example, the capacity to deliver a high-quality service allows its clients, in turn, to provide a high-quality service to their customers – and a high customer satisfaction rate is likely to lead to repeat business, maximising client retention.
Below are just some of the key things to consider when choosing your Production Print provider:
Industry-leading technology with a multi-brand approach
A close relationship with a number of industry-leading technology manufacturers is key to ensuring best-in-class support. A good indicator is to look for partnership titles such as ‘Platinum Partner’; which will ensure your provider has undergone rigorous measures to comply with standards, and have been recognised by the manufacturer as a mark of excellence.
In the world of print, having access to the ‘best-of-breed’ technology is crucial for businesses to deliver the highest quality print - and access to a wide number of Production Print devices and brands puts a provider in a unique position to supply you with the optimal equipment to suit your needs.
Most leading Production Print service providers will provide ongoing, in-person training to ensure that you have the know-how to make the best use of your equipment.
For print companies, the profitability of short run jobs may be negatively affected by having too many ‘touch points’; i.e. too many points where an employee must manually contribute.
Specialist training from your Production Print service provider will give your operators a better understanding of the Press in combination with the Digital Front End, building their skill sets to streamline production.
For example; implementing more efficient workflows that automate and reduce touchpoints will help a printing business be more efficient and ultimately more profitable.
Uptime is absolutely crucial for print businesses – and Production Print service providers should be able to provide ongoing support that ensures unexpected downtime is kept to an absolute minimum - as well as ensuring that your equipment is continually stocked and replenished.
Additionally, Production Print service providers with a dedicated team of specialist engineers will be best-suited to resolve any conceivable technical issues that may arise.
Not only do these specialists understand the technical nature of printing with a Digital Press but they also understand the environment and needs of Commercial Print and the need for maximum uptime.
Halfway through a print job with an urgent deadline, only for technical difficulties to strike at the inopportune moment?
While you wait for a technician, a production print service provider with their own Outsourced Document Service can ensure any interrupted jobs are completed. The best examples will also use the devices that they supply themselves, meaning jobs should be completed to an identical quality and with you in time to meet your deadline.
As part of our commitment to supporting local communities, a few members of Team Apogee recently spent a day volunteering at Lincoln-based charity Green Synergy.
Sarah has over 25 years experience in the MPS industry and brings a wealth of knowledge to the Apogee Executive Leadership Team. She’s been actively involved in a number of key acquisitions over the years, commanding her team and ensuring Apogee has continued to grow and develop.
Sarah has a strategic and operational responsibility for the key processes through which we secure and contract our customers. This includes product management and pricing, contract development, sales procedures, order processing, and the management of funders and vendor partners. Sarah and her team ensure that we always strike the right balance between Apogee’s financial objectives and Sales team success, without compromising our customer’s experience.
Sarah is without doubt a passionate and process driven leader, focusing on targets and KPIs in order to deliver a strong team result.
Julian Broster
VP of Strategic Business Development
Julian has over 8 years of invaluable knowledge having joined Apogee in 2013 as a Pre-Sales Consultant, mirroring Apogee’s own journey of growth, Julian has developed from this role to join the Apogee ELT in 2021. He has extensive experience working with organisations from all sectors, helping to identify opportunities for growth and innovation through digital transformation.
Julian’s entrepreneurial mind-set and experience of creating solutions combined with being able to show clients the true value Professional Services can deliver has had a hugely successful impact on our clients in recent years. He is a well-respected figure both within Apogee and within our industry and in Julian we have the perfect role model of what can be achieved here at Apogee with the right dedication and determination to succeed.
Dan Taylor
VP of Service Operations & International
Dan Taylor brings with him 25 years of invaluable industry expertise from technology conglomerates such as HP, Samsung EMEA and Xerox Global Services. Most recently, Dan has been instrumental at HP in successfully completing strategic projects for Apogee such as the service on dMPS, HP Public Sector, Apogee Professional Services Iberia (APSI) and HP3S. Dan’s international network and deep understanding of the global market place is a huge benefit to Apogee as we continue our expansion into new markets.
In his role of ‘Vice President of International Business’, Dan acts as the MD for both Apogee Germany and Apogee Ireland, as well as leading the new international strategic partnerships. He also leads Service Operations, which includes Service Delivery, PMO, Supply Chain, Logistics, Operational Excellence, and Customer Success & Experience.
Dan prides himself on being a highly driven and results-oriented person with expertise in both enterprise & channel sales, as well as broad experience from strategic planning to deployment into the field.
Carl Day
Chief Sales Officer
Carl has been in the technology and managed services industries for the majority of his professional life, and has extensive experience of leading direct and indirect sales teams in both B2B and B2C markets.
Carl is passionate about personal development, work-based learning and coaching, all of which are critical for Apogee as we invest in developing our skills and effectiveness in this area. He has a Master’s degree in leading sales transformation, and a track record of implementing and enhancing programmes that drive sales performance and ultimately growth in market share.
Prior to joining Apogee, Carl was Director of Client Development for Europe & Asia at ACA Europe, a leading provider of governance, risk, and compliance advisory services and technology solutions. Before then as a UK Board Director at Toshiba TEC, Carl was responsible for the indirect and direct sales channels for the UK and Ireland, and prior to joining Toshiba he held senior roles in marketing, IT development and sales management at Ricoh.
Simon Green
Chief Information Officer
Dynamic and results oriented, Simon Green is MBA educated and takes a strategic approach to successful IS transformation, delivering ‘cost appropriate’ and ‘value creating’ ICT solutions.
Simon has helped transform businesses by building high-performance teams, managing people through change and making complex IT understandable and actionable.
Marion Brooks
Chief People Officer
Marion Brooks is an accomplished and adaptable HR leader whose HR career spans over 25 years. Having worked both in the UK and internationally, Marion has previously held senior HR roles within the retail, engineering, and technology sectors.
In her role leading the People & Culture function, Marion is responsible for developing and executing the human resource strategy that supports the overall company vision and strategy, specifically in the areas of succession planning, talent management, change management, organisational and performance management, training and development, and compensation.
Marion is also driving the organisational culture by cultivating and championing it, creating an environment that fosters integrity, diversity, inclusivity, agility, wellness and open communication.
When not at work, Marion spends most of her time with her family. She has also recently joined a local women’s cricket team and enjoys batting and wicket keeping.
Sam Jackson
Chief Finance Officer
With over 20 years of experience in finance, Sam is an accomplished, commercially astute member of the ELT. Well-accustomed to taking an active, hands-on approach, Sam will be managing all financial aspects of Apogee’s strategy to drive growth and increase profitability.
Following qualification from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), Sam began in a management accounts role for sporting manufacturer Unicorn Products. After nine years, she then moved on to join OfficeTeam; a business consumable supplier, where she climbed the ranks from Senior Management Accountant all the way to Finance Director. Ten years on, and eager for a new challenge, Sam joined Apogee, soon entering the ELT as Chief Finance Officer.
Joining Apogee after the transition to an HP-owned company, Sam was responsible for updating many processes and policies to the standard we recognise today. She plans to provide support to the rest of the ELT by keeping communication around finances transparent, while also providing education around key drivers that will enhance profit.
Aurelio Maruggi
Chief Executive Officer
Aurelio is the Chief Executive Officer and has more than three decades of print industry experience. He is a seasoned leader driven by results, achieved through teamwork and empowerment.
Aurelio has been a senior HP Inc. executive for 18 years, most recently as the Global Head of Owned Channels and the General Manager of HP’s A3 Solutions Business. Earlier in his career at HP, Aurelio created from the inception the HP Graphics Page Wide Press business, taking it from initial idea to become a significant and profitable business for HP. Prior to HP, Aurelio led the Inkjet Printing Business for Olivetti before co-founding Yminds S.A. in Switzerland, an engineering firm specialising in advanced micromechanics and colour science.
Aurelio currently serves as a member of the International Board of Directors for Apogee Corporation Ltd and Simpress.