It’s no secret that if you can hit your color the first time, you’re going to save a lot of time and money. But with printing becoming an increasingly global function, achieving accurate color is more difficult than ever.
Many companies have distributed printing plants or operate in partnership with other printers around the world. A job might start with a brand manager in Los Angeles, move to a designer in Paris, and be sent to three different states to be printed on different substrates. Everything must match in the end, but color specification can become more and more ambiguous at each step of the process.
Certification makes color communication and reproduction much easier.
Warren Werbitt, the Founder of Pazazz Printing, is reaping the benefits of certification. Pazzaz started in 1992 as a modest commercial print shop and has since grown to become an industry leader of sales, print and marketing experts producing the highest quality commercial print, digital printing, labels, packaging and large format products.
Pazzaz Printing proudly displays the PANTONE Certified Printer logo on its homepage.
“Being a PANTONE Certified Printer compliments our G7 Master Qualification and strengthens our process controls by about 25%, allowing us to deliver the highest quality printing. Since certification, we’re more in tune with our operations and have additional tools to help us achieve our clients’ colors. Being a PANTONE Certified Printer has definitely given us a competitive advantage. We now have proof that we can maintain brand integrity, which is crucial for brand owners who are looking for the best quality available.”
Here are a few ways certification can help you become more competitive in the marketplace.
- Prove to customers you can get their color right.
Brand owners want to know their specified colors can be reliably produced each and every time, and customers want to know the money they spend on your services will be worth it. Certification tells everyone you know what you’re doing, and you can achieve any color that’s thrown your way.
The Benefit: More business, both new and repeat.
- Make sure everyone is on the same page.
Employees can’t perform their jobs well if they don’t know what is expected of them. Standard operating procedures (SOPs) provide a blueprint of how each job should be done and answers questions before they even arise. The Pantone Certified Printer Program requires you to establish and maintain effective standard operating procedures that everyone involved in the process, in any location and on any shift, must follow.
Listen as Mark Gundlach, Solutions Architect for X-Rite Pantone, explains more.
The Benefit: Reduced variability across shifts for consistent, reliable results. Plus, operators who know what’s expected of them tend to stick around longer.
- Work more efficiently.
Going through your workflow with a fine-toothed comb has a way of highlighting inefficiencies so you can correct the little things that are costing you time and money. Whether it’s implementing new software or hardware, or getting training to improve your productivity, certification will put you in a position to achieve consistent color with less waste.
The Benefit: Perform at the highest possible level.
- Fully utilize your investments.
Just because you have the latest and greatest measurement software, light booths, and color measurement devices doesn’t mean you’re efficient. Going through the certification process will help confirm you’re using your tools efficiently and provide tips and tricks you’re not even aware of.
The Benefit: Get the most from your color management tools.
- Establish yourself as an expert.
When bidding for jobs, certification gives you bragging rights and a better chance of winning the job because you can prove you’re able to produce the best possible color. Customers will feel more comfortable that they’re choosing the best possible print provider.
Benefit: More effective marketing to keep your market awareness high.
What are other certified companies saying?
When Think Patented became a PANTONE® Certified Printer at the end of last year, they gained new contracts for high-end work and additional business. According to Chairman Niels Winther, “Customers and prospects see that we are buttoned up and well positioned to meet all of their standards, and it gives them a great deal of confidence in our ability to deliver to expectations. Pantone is a well-known and respected brand to which our customers respond positively.”
Check out the Think Patented Case Study to see how the Pantone Certified Printer Program is spurring business growth.
Certification is helping Promis JSC achieve their quality goals as well as international recognition in the printing market. They are the first Russian and European folding carton packaging printer to be UGRA PSO (Process Standard Offset) Certified and a Pantone Certified Printer Company.
The outside perspective that X-Rite Pantone brings to the PANTONE Certified Printer Program enabled Cedar Graphics to ensure consistent operation from department to department and shift to shift, from ink room through prepress and the pressroom. “Everyone is now speaking the same language, and we are much more efficient as a result,” President Michael Clark says.
What can certification do for you?
