BRD Printing Supports Business with the imagePRESS V1350
Watch this interview with BRD Printing’s CEO Dave Lee to learn how the Canon imagePRESS V1350 helped the company expand into new applications, streamline turnaround times, and deliver outstanding print quality - enabling them to serve demanding clients, including print brokers and ad agencies, with confidence and consistency.
Driving Quality and Efficiency: How BRD Printing Transformed Its Digital Strategy
In an era where customer demands are faster and more exacting than ever, commercial print providers must adapt swiftly to stay ahead. For BRD Printing, a Lansing, Michigan-based general commercial printer, that evolution has centered on a strategic partnership with Canon and a bold reinvestment in its digital production lineup.
From Carbon Forms to High-End Commercial Print
To understand BRD Printing’s current success, it helps to look at its roots. Founded in 1977, the company originally specialized in manufacturing carbon forms. Over the decades, as business needs evolved, the company transitioned into a full-service general commercial printer.
While offset printing remains the bedrock of their production, digital technology has steadily advanced from a complementary service to a critical business driver. BRD Printing first entered the digital print space in 2012. After running into hardware limitations with its initial vendor, the company conducted extensive market research and pivoted to Canon, previously operating two Canon imagePRESS C10000 units and an imagePRESS C800.
When it came time for a technology refresh, the organization assessed the entire competitive landscape. Ultimately, the company chose to deepen its relationship with Canon by installing both an imagePRESS V1350 and an imagePRESS V900.
Overcoming Quality and Turnaround Challenges
The business philosophy at BRD Printing can be summarized simply as “quantity dictates everything." Historically, larger print runs were funneled directly to their offset presses, while smaller, fast-turnaround jobs went to digital. However, balancing color consistency between offset and digital historically proved challenging with older machinery.
The addition of the imagePRESS V1350 has helped to effectively remove quality as a point of friction.
The company can seamlessly run a large-scale catalog on an offset press and later produce a short, emergency supplement on the digital press for a board meeting. The color and print quality match so precisely that clients cannot tell the difference.
Furthermore, the new equipment has helped to virtually eliminate turnaround bottlenecks. BRD Printing frequently collaborates with print brokers and clients with incredibly tight timelines. Because the imagePRESS V1350 delivers high-speed throughput without sacrificing output consistency, rush jobs no longer disrupt standard plant workflows.
Expanding Capabilities with Inline Finishing
Beyond speed and vibrant color, the investment has enabled BRD Printing to capture new revenue streams. The company has moved more aggressively into transactional print and variable data mailing. Crucially, the imagePRESS V1350 has unlocked the ability to reliably print on diverse synthetic stocks—a media type that frequently caused jams or substrate damage on their legacy equipment.
A major highlight of the new setup is the integration of an inline Plockmatic booklet maker. Instead of routing printed digital sheets to separate offline bindery equipment, the imagePRESS V1350 produces fully finished booklets inline, complete with a professional square-back spine. This reduction in manual touchpoints has helped to significantly cut down external labor costs and accelerate delivery timelines.
Strategic Differentiation and Seamless Deployment
The real proof of the imagePRESS V1350’s impact lies in customer feedback. BRD Printing recently hosted a tour for local advertising agencies, a client segment historically very particular about color accuracy. The agency representatives were universally impressed by the vibrance and clarity of the output. Some clients now specifically request digital printing over offset purely because they prefer the visual pop and vibrancy of the Canon toner.
Equally impressive was the execution of the hardware transition itself. Working closely with Canon, BRD Printing strategically relocated the new digital presses to a different area of their manufacturing plant. This allowed their older digital equipment to remain completely operational during the setup phase. As a result, the shop maintained continuous uptime, and once the imagePRESS V1350 and V900 were fully calibrated, the legacy machines were systematically removed without impacting client deadlines.
By prioritizing automated inline finishing, robust media flexibility, and flawless color matching, BRD Printing has set a strong foundation for its future growth, proving that the right technology partner can turn operational challenges into clear competitive advantages.
To learn more about how Canon production solutions can help your organization thrive, contact us today.