Dayfold makes boxes make the difference

Some call them 'Fancy' boxes, others call them 'Luxury' or 'Rigid' boxes... but for printers everywhere they could be 'Money Boxes!'

DAYFOLD PRINT has experienced such dramatic success since its decision, less than two years ago, to expand its offering to include luxury box manufacturing, that it is already planning new investment to double capacity. And, as before, they will be calling in Perfect Box Solutions to advise on the options and to source and supply much of the equipment, as MD Del Simmons explains:

"We've known Steve Giddins at Perfect Bindery Solutions over many years and he's always been there to bounce ideas off and come up with the right equipment for our paper-over-board products," he says. "So we naturally spoke to him and Hannah when we decided to look at boxmaking. They realised very early on that we were aiming to manufacture exceptional products for special clients... the kind of presentation packaging that would challenge conventions and push the boundaries."

DAYFOLD's interest in producing the exceptional rather than the run-of-the-mill was an approach to which they found PBS was naturally attuned:

"With Perfect Box, it's not like talking to the big manufacturers who's 'one-size-fits-all' caters for established players in mass markets – there's much more of a family feel," continues Mr Simmons. "They were happy to engage in an ongoing conversation with us as we examined the options and raised questions – and then they came up with the solutions to fit what we needed... and that's what made it work so well for us."

The first round of investment included a PBS DA900 Box Wrapper, a DA910 Twin Corner cutter for removing waste corners after grooving and also cutting basic cover sheet design, an Optimus Prime for bottle box and slip case production, a DA905 3D printer for making the tooling in-house for the Optimus Prime, a 1350 semi-automated Board Cutter, an Aperture Wrapper for wrapping windows and cut-outs in board and boxes, a 1.5 semi-automated Casemaker configured to use vegan glue to glue cover materials for boxes as well as making hardcover cases, and an HQ9060 130W Laser to make tools, in-house from laser ply, for the DA900. Rather than using cut board sections for the box carcase panels, PBS recommended grooving which gives a much more accurate and cleaner finish, so the initial set-up included a DC120 semi-automated Grooving Machine... but DAYFOLD's runaway success meant that they outstripped its capacity within six months and this had to be swapped out for a high speed fully-automated 1200B Grooving Machine.

Although DAYFOLD is winning business for its luxury boxes as stand-alone products, it is the part they play in its ability to fulfil entire projects for its key clients that has proved so rewarding. Because, when it comes to presentation packs for high-end parfumiers, F1 premium guest race-day packs, or in-store gift packs for the world's elite retailers, budgets are not the primary consideration; it is the sensation their customers experience when they take the product into their hands that is the primary concern. In this world 'value-add' is the norm – and that goes for every element from the design, the materials and the print, to the contents and, of course, the packaging.

DAYFOLD PRINT secured its position among these high-end clients, and the agencies who service them, through its reputation as an innovator in the production of print to impress, dazzle and amaze. It's a reputation that stems from a passion that pervades the whole company, none more than Del Simmons:

"Whether it be packaging, a book, a box, a brochure, or something as simple as a business card... the first impression that the right choice of materials, processes and finishes can deliver is second-to-none," he enthuses. "Print has an important part to play in how businesses communicate, but it has to be done right. Impactful and effective printing is about so much more than ink on paper, and it starts with a close relationship between the designer and the printer because even the best design needs to work in harmony with production processes to deliver its message effectively."

DAYFOLD's investments reflect its ambition to push boundaries in search of the perfectly pitched result. The latest addition to it's digital press room is an HP Indigo 7K brought in, not just for the extra capacity, but to allow greater diversity of print using Vivid inks and security inks or by laying down whites and using 4-colours on top for creative papers such as Colorplan. And its latest SRA1 Heidelberg features LEDUV for a greater variety of applications. For one cosmetics client, DAYFOLD prints 2.5 million sheets of uniquely designed wrapping paper for distribution to its global store network each Christmas and its foiling department is so advanced and proficient that it actually manufactures the fanfold swatches for its foil manufacturer!

Far from the Madding Crowd

'Holistic' mindset pays big dividends for 'one-of-a-kind' DAYFOLD

But it's when we learn that DAYFOLD not only prints on substrates made from banana husk or old cotton shirts, grass paper and avocado skin paper, but that it also helps recycle these waste products on behalf of its clients by commissioning the manufacture of the substrates at the paper mill, that we begin to appreciate the extent to which its business has outgrown the scope of the conventional commercial print house.

Sustainability is at the core of everything that DAYFOLD does for itself and its customers, to the extent that it has a full time consultant, in-house, to advise clients on everything from the credentials of different materials and their ability to be recycled, to how to reduce carbon footprint and even recycle their own downstream waste into their proposed printed and packaging items. And because DAYFOLD has Carbon Quota it is able to put a very accurate carbon figure against every job it produces to give a full life cycle analysis which takes into account everything involved in the manufacturing chain – even including the cars they drive and the journeys made – to create LCA's (Life Cycle Assessments) which then enable its clients to substantiate their own carbon responsibility statements. It is an approach that plays well with high-end agencies and clients with prestigious products to promote and brand reputations to protect.

And it was sustainability that, in part, inspired the decision to add luxury box production to the DAYFOLD offering, as Mr Simmons explains:

"We have grown to appreciate the benefits of self-sufficiency when it comes to manufacturing processes, not just in terms of quality control, turnround times and cost-efficiency... it also contributes to a reduction in our – and therefore our customers' – carbon footprint. Also, the more elements we build into our offering, the more distinct we become from our competitors."

So, when a hand-finishing partner which had been operating out of a mezzanine in one of DAYFOLD's buildings moved out to larger premises nearby, Del Simmons seized the opportunity to make the space work within that 'holistic' philosophy:

"We thought about what we could do to expand on our offering while capitalising on our environmental credentials; what could we do with a sheet of paper that finishes it so it becomes something else? And boxmaking seemed the right way to go. We realised the carton sector, in particular, was quite saturated so we felt rigid boxes had to be the way forward. That happened to fit in with the profile of our target market... high end customers with sensible budgets for high value products."

DAYFOLD acquired the rigid box side of a retiring local box manufacturer in Yeovil to kickstart the venture, sending in staff in to learn the ropes, before moving some of the kit into it's Verwood, Dorset, site where PBS installed the new equipment and trained its operators. After building its expertise supplying a varied local customer base, DAYFOLD's designers and account handlers took the challenge of introducing the new service to its high-end clients in their stride:

"Of course we have CAD systems in place, but nothing can match the kind of in-depth understanding of materials, print and special effects that only hands-on experience can bring to the table," says Del Simmons. "And because the PBS kit is so quick to set up it means we can produce mock-ups in no time at all, making the creative process a really fulfilling experience for all concerned, especially for visiting designers and clients. As a result we've been involved in some really exciting projects for the kind of high profile businesses and occasions that, by their nature, have to remain undisclosed."

One project that can be mentioned is DAYFOLD's participation in the Packaging Awards Group Initiative when it joined with Scodix, LasX and Perfect Box Solutions to design, manufacture and supply personalised, event-branded luxury gift boxes for each of the 700 plus guests at the Packaging News Awards Night at London's Grosvenor House last Autumn. The feat was made all the more astonishing since the attendee data was not finalised until, virtually, the eve of the event. DAYFOLD undertook all the box manufacture, personalisation and delivery to the guests' places at the tables. The PAGI initiative is thought to have been a world-first.

It's proving to be a busy period for the team at DAYFOLD; in January they also co-partnered Foilco and cosmetics retailer Lush to host over 100 students from the Arts University Bournemouth (AUB) at their Verwood site, to demonstrate a variety of printing and finishing techniques using traditional and digital machinery. And they have also joined with Stephen Austin, ASL, PHD Marketing and Nutshell in committing to the Young People In Print programme which will run throughout the year to promote careers in print to students from local schools and secondary education.

The future of print is...

not necessarily print!

One thing that the visiting youngsters will be sure to learn is that nothing stands still in the world of print. DAYFOLD, which is in the process of a management buy-out, began life in the 1980s as a manufacturer and supplier of pre-formed thermal folders and the associated consumables (hence the name DAYFOLD), changing focus over the years in response to market forces, first to fine art printing, then to commercial litho, and adding bindery, special effects and digital printing along the way. And it's a transition that will only gain momentum under the stewardship of Del Simmons and his MBO partners as they take the reins to guide DAYFOLD into a flourishing and unchartered future:

"We always end our meetings with our clients with the question: 'Is there anything else we can do for you?' and one cosmetics company said, half jokingly, that it would be nice if we could fill and pack their sample perfume vials for them! Apparently, even though the perfume is ultra high-end, because the samples are comparatively short-run they couldn't be prioritised by the bottling plants, to the extent that the timing of promotional events was being jeopardised," says Del Simmons. "On the face of it, that's not something that any printer would want to get involved in, but when you look at it through the lens of sustainability and carbon footprint, suddenly it begins to make very good sense. By providing an on-demand end-to-end service using recycled materials, in a carbon controlled environment and eliminating a lot of surplus transportation at the same time, DAYFOLD is able to offer maximum production efficiency, quality assurance and reliable turnround times... and it's a service which any other supplier would find it very hard to contemplate delivering, let alone compete with. We decided to invest in the kit and train up some staff and we very quickly got up to speed. For our client we had solved a logistical headache and enhanced their carbon credentials and, once we had shown them we were serious, the volume of work began to grow – and it hasn't stopped. The initial samples work is running at about half-a-million a year and now we're being asked to get involved with larger bottles and more complex packages, all delivered direct to the retailers, as instructed."