Since 1965, B&W Press has offered a full range of direct mail/direct response services to non profit organizations, academia, publications, agencies and consumer product companies. In response to their customers’ critical need to contain the high cost of producing catalogs, they created the “Mini Slim®” mailer designed to stimulate web traffic, prospect or sell very specific items and mail at the cost of a Standard Automated Letter — much more cost-effectively than a standard catalog. As the popularity of their new product grew, so did their production volume, and innovative tools and methods were needed to assure the same color quality, consistency and efficiency.

“Running our ‘Mini Slims’ on two 32” 8/unit presses over three shifts introduced a range of color consistency issues,” reports Dave Dillon, B&W Pressroom Manager. “We needed a new color initiative to help us raise our color quality bar, and shorten makeready times to achieve productivity goals.”

Under the direction of color expert Ron Ellis, B&W Press worked toward attaining G7® Master Printer Qualification by setting target densities and closely monitoring press runs. The installation of a TECHKON SpectroJet enabled B&W pressroom operators to capture their color measurements in a single pass across the color bar, and instantly transfer the data to ExPresso Software for interpretation. TECHKON’s G7 support in ExPresso gives pressroom operators an immediate indication whether their press run is within G7 specification tolerances, and provides specific ink key adjustments needed to correct it. The color data is also channeled into valuable trending reports for postpress customer review.