PERFORMA

We visited the Krakow company of Unidruk due to reasons of the latest investment in the form of a five-colour KBA Performa 74 printing press. Next year, the company will celebrate 15 years of its existence. The printshop uses new technologies to the fullest possible extent – the majority of orders arrive via the internet.

We cannot sit on two chairs at once

The company beginnings were- according to the owner, Artur Kruczek – fairly insignificant. The printshop began to operate on the market after purchasing the first second hand Romayor while the company was operating totally different business activities. Year after year, the company has been developing its potential. The largest investment was made 4 years ago. “I set myself two main objectives: to develop the machine pool to increase the production capacity of the printshop and to build a good name through good quality, reasonable prices and thorough work", said the owner. To achieve this, I had to invest.

The latest purchase was the five colour KBA Performa 74 press with dispersion varnishing. Artur Kruczek explained his choice: “The purchased press had to have five colours for one pass in order to eliminate the printing costs. The dispersion varnish has become a standard which is demanded by a growing number of customers. We had to purchase this equipment as we do not subcontract our orders externally as a matter of principle, to ensure that we are not going to lose some of our customers. The purpose of the investment was to increase the production capacity and the order processing speed. The processing period and easy operation, which is ensured by the Performa represents a “very important aspect” for medium and low volume orders”, added Mr Kruczek.

Artur Kruczek, owner of the Unidruk printshop

“We were not totally sure whether to invest into KBA or MAN Roland”, continued Artur Kruczek. “The price of these presses was, as a result of all the negotiations, very similar. So in reality, we have focused on two aspects: service and dimensions. We have been cooperating with the Lubicz company of Bohdan Berlińsky which also ensures the servicing of this press. I know that in the event of any problems, the KBA Performa would be repaired in a single stroke. Besides this, the Roland is a much bigger machine and its installation is connected with many structural changes inside the printshop. This is why we chose this solution", explained Mr Kruczek. Today, we have no regrets.

The Performa is the eighth printing press and the fourth full colour press. Besides the Performa, Unidruk has presses from Roland, KBA Planeta, Dominant and Polly in all the printing formats (SRB1, SRB2 and SRB3). The printshop also has a preparation shop for printing plates using CtP Screen technology which was supplied by the Reprograf company and also a well equipped book binding line as well as the majority of the technologies required for finishing work after printing. “We must invest due to the volume of the orders", the owner admitted. The majority of orders are received by the printshop via the internet. This is where the further investment has come from: The system of production control will help us to manage in excess of the tens of orders which arrive daily and it will be implemented by the end of the year. “We want to avoid situations where the execution of an order is delayed due to communication problems with clients. We would like the client, when registering into the system, to be able to see what is happening with their order and at what stage of processing it is at", said Artur Kruczek.

We are interested to see which type of orders predominate. “We have always been always in the small and medium size companies. We do not process many orders for large clients: the share of the largest partner in the annual production was 4.5% in the last year and only another two companies have exceed the 2% mark. We have hundreds of customers but despite such a variety of customer base, we do not do too bad. The system is safe, because we are resistant towards seasonal work loads. On the other hand we are busy – we are able to process 50 various orders each day” admitted Artur Kruczek.

This mainly includes advertising printing matter: leaflets, advertising catalogues, bags, business cards. In addition to all this, production also includes posters in the SRB1 format. Orders for the printing of an entire book arrive very rarely but we can process them too – if they do not require hard covers. Company policy is not to share an order. In the event that we are not capable of processing the order completely, we simply turn it down. “Our specialisation is advertising printing and we do not make any compromise with that. I think that it is not good to sit on more than just one chair at once, but rather do one thing properly. A further path of development, in my opinion, is the expansion of the company operation”, said the owner.

Currently, the printshop uses 2 000 m2 of floor space. That is not enough if we want to process orders from the whole of Poland. The company is, however, well prepared in technical terms for the next expansion. Two years ago, the owner invested into modules which will allow for price calculations and ordering directly via the internet. Today, more than 20% of the printshop production is sent outside of Krakow and in 4-5 years time when the company will move out of the town into a new production hall with approximately eight thousand m², then the orders from the whole of Poland will represent 60-70 percent of the production.

The compact dimensions of the Performa were one of the reasons for the purchase

Unidruk is proof of the power of the internet. The company obtains more and more new clients despite the fact that they do not have any sales representatives. “One sales representative is able to serve a maximum of 15 customers a day. Our internet pages are visited by almost 1000 viewers in the same period of time. If every fifth viewer targets the web site and than each fifth of those makes an order, we are looking at 40 orders a day”, said the owner.

The printshop employs 60 people full time working across 3 shifts. The people and the perfect personnel are the most important elements who contribute towards the success of the company. Artur Kruczek is particular in regard to staff satisfaction with the working conditions“. I try to make them happy from the financial point of view as well as in regard to the working environment. In our case, we try to build relationships by organizing family trips and trips to the cinema or by going bowling. We also offer free tickets for the swimming pool and fitness centre. I believe that in case of my employees, that a few extra zloty offered by the competition will not be a reason for them to leave", added the owner. I am afraid however, that the wave of mass migration seeking work in western countries may cause problems when hiring new employees for seasonal work. Each year between August and February we employ several tens of people to help with the production of calendars.

The company is developing fast“. The company turnover increase during the last three years was by 60%, 40% and in the first half of this year by 30%”, revealed the owner. The number of foreign orders is not significant“. If we can get the clients in Poland than we choose this path as it is easier and safer. We have had bad experiences with recovering outstanding debts from abroad”.

Advertising is a difficult field for production: Customers are very demanding and the large competition among the printshops cuts the deadlines for processing the orders as well as the prices. Therefore, I must ask what will be the indicators when deciding in the near future what constitutes success on this market? “Quality, speed and price”, said the Unidruk owner. We have placed a large emphasis on this for years and these are the foundations we are trying to build our good company name on. And I repeat, all this requires further investment. The more new equipment we will have in the company, the better quality control and better assurance that the order will be processed thoroughly, in time and for a good price”, finished Artur Kruczek.