Boss Bern AG relies on Monster for its communication and on HP Indigo for sheetfed digital printing. A brand-new HP Indigo 7eco has just been put into operation in the company's brand-new premises in Bolligen. swiss print + communication spoke to company owner and managing director Stephan Boss and Sven Bänziger from the Chromos Group, who sold the machine. Interesting insights and findings about digital printing and the printing industry in general.
Text: Paul Fischer / Image: Boss Bern AG
Stephan Boss lets nothing get in the way of "his" Indigos. For - it's hard to believe - almost two decades, he has been relying on HP Indigo printing technology. First on a 3050 model, then on a 5500 series system and now the 7eco. His response to the provocation: "HP Indigo, isn't that an expensive printing technology in times when cost optimization is everything?" is completely calm. "There is still nothing better, of higher quality, more flexible and with so much added value than the HP Indigo digital printing system. Of course, the toner systems have improved considerably, but they still don't come close to the Indigo in terms of print quality. The inkjet systems are now also very good, but they are limited, especially when it comes to spot colors. If you ask me, I can only say: for me, there is simply no alternative to Indigo!" You ask: is this a fan, or even a blinded one? Of course not, Stephan Boss has his solid arguments and some of them are thought-provoking.
Start with Lichtpause
Stephan Boss's father founded a company that produced light tracing in 1975. He himself started working in the family business over 25 years ago. His mission: "I wanted to think about how we could position the company better if there was another construction crisis." Advertising technology and pre-press were the new mainstays that Stephan Boss began to build up at the end of the 1990s. Digital printing followed and in 2007 Stephan Boss took over the company completely. The company now employs around 30 people. The main pillars are the production of trade fair displays, signage, all types of advertising technology products including vehicle lettering, CAD plotting services and digital printing with the HP Indigo.
Stephan Boss explains: "Our most important mainstay is advertising technology with all its nuances. Here we offer the complete value chain: Consulting and design, print production, delivery, installation. Customers in this area come from the Bern and Mittelland region, but the installations are carried out throughout Switzerland. On the other hand, we have the digital printing business with small print products and specialized print products. Prepress should not be forgotten. This is also an important pillar of our business. Our strength: we don't just accept print data, we advise, we create concepts, we manage customer data."
Here are some interesting figures: Over 700 advertising technology/installations are carried out each year. Over 7000 products are delivered. The company's own fleet comprises a fleet of around a dozen vehicles. This makes Boss Bern AG one of the largest providers of advertising technology/display solutions in Bern. The addition of digital printing is an important unique selling point. Stephan Boss: "Other providers in the Bern region specializing in advertising technology/display solutions have also been involved in digital printing over the last fifteen years. However, none have focused as strongly on direct contact with advertising agencies as we have. This is perhaps also the reason why we have been able to successfully develop this business, while others have since withdrawn."
Why Indigo?
As mentioned at the beginning of the article, Stephan Boss is a fan of Indigo printing technology. There are good reasons for this. Stephan Boss: "When we started with Indigo in 2004, digital printing had a rather bad reputation. Customers were used to the quality of toner systems and the differences to offset were simply impossible to overlook. Then we came up with the Indigo and everyone was delighted with the print quality it offered. We were able to build up another important customer base in the agency sector, where we had hardly had any contacts until then. This enabled us to expand the company even further. Digital printing has been a reliable growth generator throughout all these years and remains so to this day." What fascinates Stephan Boss so much about Indigo technology? "It is still the best technology available on the market in terms of print product quality. Of course, toner systems have improved, but when people tell me today that their print quality is now on a par with Indigo, I have to clearly deny that. Our agency customers still come to us with the request: Mr. Boss, we want Indigo quality. All the statements made on the market about other digital printing technologies and their print quality - whether by system providers or print shops - are simply not correct in my opinion."
And what about the objections to the HP Indigo's high costs on the market? Stephan Boss laughs and explains: "I shouldn't communicate this to the outside world, but we've had the same prices in the digital printing sector for fifteen years. Of course, we also make concessions from time to time. Is that a problem? No! When people say things like 'expensive technology', they often forget that the cost of print products is only one element of an overall marketing budget. Especially in a marketing mix with the use of digital channels. Would I charge different prices with a toner system? That would be counterproductive. But as it is well known that these do not come close to the quality of the HP Indigo, there is nothing left to do but argue with lower prices. This is precisely where many print shops that only look at printing costs make a crucial mistake. It is simply not true that customers only look at the best price. Other factors are just as important. At least for our customers."
At this point, Sven Bänziger from the Chromos Group intervenes very forcefully: "I keep coming across this argument in the market. In many cases, however, the arguments are not honest. People compare the pure click, maintenance or machine prices and then say: Wow, the HP Indigo is much more expensive! But if you then do a proper job cost calculation and take all costs into account, it looks completely different. Above all, it is often forgotten that the financial success of a printing service is not only generated at the printing press. How expensive are handling, back office and prepress? How high are all the other costs? What turnover is generated per order? My experience: for print shops that complain about low margins, it is rarely the cost of space on the press that is the decisive factor for success or failure."
Online, consulting, 7eco
This brings the discussion to a point that goes far beyond whether the HP Indigo 7eco is a good machine or not. The strategic orientation of the company is central. Stephan Boss explains that of Boss Bern AG as follows: "Many people today say that a company like ours has a problem without a B2C store solution. It's a topic that has been hotly debated at our company for many years. We have been on the road for a long time with powerful and individually set up B2B online store solutions. But B2C? We don't stand a chance against the big online print shops. With the prices they charge, we don't stand a chance. That's why we clearly focus on B2B customers who want advice, design, extra services and quality. But we also target B2C customers who are looking for quality. I have often seen that customers who have previously ordered a standard product from an online store are delighted when we not only print an invitation card for them, but also design it. For these customers, the additional financial outlay is worth it. And there are more such B2C customers on the market who are prepared to pay this price than you might think."
So it's all sunshine and rainbows, and the decline in print order volumes is a whining complaint from print shops that don't have their costs under control? "No, of course the decline in print products is a reality. But if you look at the figures, the volume is falling more and more, especially in the upper and medium circulation segment. Where we are active, i.e. with the HP Indigo, we haven't noticed anything in recent years - on the contrary."
The development is paradoxical. At least that's how it feels when you listen to Sven Bänziger: "We mustn't fool ourselves: offset printing is a very mature technology and offset presses are absolutely top in terms of performance and cost-effectiveness. If I have a well-utilized 70×100 sheetfed offset press, it's hard to beat in terms of operating efficiency. But in the Swiss market in particular, we are seeing a decline in the corresponding print runs, which is making it increasingly difficult for users of such machines to fill them at all. In digital printing with the Indigo, we are seeing the opposite trend: print runs and volumes are increasing. The machines are becoming more and more industrial. The 7eco, the entry model introduced a year ago, is based on a product family that was developed for industrial digital printing from the outset."
What does that mean in concrete terms? Sven Bänziger: "In terms of design, the HP Indigo 7eco is absolutely identical to the HP Indigo 7K. However, while the 7K is designed for seven-color production as standard, the 7eco 'only' has five color units." For Stephan Boss, that's enough: "What makes the HP Indigo 7eco so attractive for us is the ability to produce with silver/metallic, premium white and many other spot colors. This is real added value that we can also actively sell to customers and that enables us to differentiate ourselves from the competition in the market. "
Sustainability and monstrous
Boss Bern AG, like many other companies in Switzerland, has been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Stephan Boss: "2020 was a difficult year for us, and the first quarter of 2021 wasn't easy either. However, we shouldn't forget that 2018 and 2019 were great years for us. We were able to build up reserves here." So the basic strategy is right. That's why the company moved into a new building in 2020, which Boss Bern AG realized together with partner companies and building co-users. An important element was sustainability, something that is close to Stephan Boss' heart.
His comment on the new building: "We work and produce in a purely timber construction. Except for the basement and the ground floor slab, which are made of concrete. Everything is built to the Minergie standard, comfort is guaranteed, ensures value retention and guarantees environmental friendliness. A tight building envelope, adequate thermal insulation and a systematic ventilation system are crucial. Thanks to a carefully selected monoblock, we have ventilation, cooling and humidification, which is very important in the printing industry. We also have our own photovoltaic system on the flat roof, which produces up to 73.3 kWp and covers almost all of our energy needs. We sell the surplus energy to BKW and also supply two other companies in the building with cheap electricity." The fact that the new HP Indigo eco7 produces in a "climate-neutral" way can almost be seen as a detail.
But Stephan Boss also goes his own way in terms of communication. Storytelling is an increasingly important element. The company has created its own "monsters" for this purpose: Brain Tell, Ida Indigo, Rahel Rakel and Phil Stress talk about their adventures in the company and with customers. The stories are presented on social media and as a printed booklet - produced on the HP Indigo 7eco, of course. There will also be another exciting paper sample book from Boss Bern AG. In it, Boss presents the new possibilities of the HP Indigo, including metallic colors and white printing, on different papers with different grammages. In this way, the print quality and feel of the paper can be assessed on each paper and the customer can find out whether there is a suitable envelope for the paper. The paper sample book can be ordered from Boss Bern AG at any time.
