Entourage Yearbooks: Printing Photo Specialty Applications on Inkjet
Entourage Yearbooks CEO Elias Jo talks with Impressions Xchange about implementing a Canon varioPRINT iX sheetfed inkjet press. Watch the video to learn how Entourage is leveraging the latest inkjet technology’s stunning image quality, speed, uptime, variable data capabilities and short-run productivity for photo-heavy applications.
Capturing Memories with Precision: Entourage Yearbooks Scales Production with Canon Inkjet Technology
In the specialized world of yearbook production, print quality is entirely non-negotiable. Preserving student memories requires exceptional color accuracy, vibrant photo reproduction, and consistent reliability.
Entourage Yearbooks, based in Princeton Junction, New Jersey, understands this operational reality better than anyone. Founded in 2006 to originally serve schools in New York, the company has experienced massive growth, evolving into a premier national provider that currently partners with more than 5,000 schools across all 50 states. Operating as a fully digital printing facility, the company specializes in short to medium run lengths, typically producing between fifty and seven hundred books per order. To maintain their high standards and continue their national expansion, the company relies heavily on advanced digital printing technology, ultimately partnering with Canon to help revolutionize their production floor.
Meeting Heavy Photographic Demands and Seasonal Surges
Printing yearbooks is essentially a high-end photo specialty application, demanding equipment that can flawlessly handle extremely heavy ink coverage on thick, coated substrates. For Entourage Yearbooks, roughly 80 to 90 percent of their work involves full-page color coverage to accommodate dense photographic layouts. Historically, the company utilized a fleet of alternative digital presses, but leadership spent five years closely monitoring the inkjet market, waiting for the technology to mature enough to handle these intense photographic demands.
Furthermore, the yearbook industry is highly seasonal, with production experiencing a massive surge between April and June as the American school year concludes. The organization needed a robust printing solution that could withstand the stress of a continuous peak season while remaining economically viable. Additionally, ongoing supply chain issues in the wider paper market made sourcing their preferred 100-pound coated stock increasingly difficult, meaning any new equipment had to reliably process available sheet sizes without causing production jams or increasing waste.
A Leap into High-Quality Inkjet
To help overcome these challenges and optimize their facility, Entourage Yearbooks made the strategic decision to replace one of their legacy presses with a Canon varioPRINT iX-series sheetfed inkjet press. This marked the company's very first integration of inkjet technology, a leap they felt comfortable making because the Canon system finally met the rigorous quality standards required for premium photo reproduction. The Canon solution checked all the necessary boxes for the company, offering the robust uptime and high throughput characteristic of a traditional printing press while delivering the crucial flexibility of a digital device. The installation process was highly successful, allowing the production team to quickly begin running their standard 12 x 18 and 13 x 19 100-pound coated sheets through the new machine.
Excellent Resolution, Efficiency, and Load Balancing
The implementation of Canon inkjet technology has helped to fundamentally transform daily operations at Entourage Yearbooks, delivering widespread benefits across the organization.
First and foremost, the varioPRINT iX-series press delivers an incredibly sharp 1200 dpi resolution, which provides a highly visible improvement in overall print quality. This precise resolution is particularly crucial for reproducing fine photographic details, resulting in vastly superior skin tones and sharper hair textures compared to their previous digital equipment. On the production floor, the transition has been universally welcomed by the staff. Press operators actively prefer running jobs on the Canon machine because it requires significantly less day-to-day and week-to-week maintenance, allowing them to focus on continuous output rather than constant troubleshooting.
From a business management perspective, the financial and operational benefits of the Canon system are tremendous. Company leadership highlights that the variable costs associated with running the inkjet press are highly attractive, actively improving the profitability of their core yearbook products. Furthermore, the machine consistently operates at or above expected performance levels, largely due to the world-class support network provided by Canon. During their peak busy season, the facility operates twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Canon matches this intensity by providing round-the-clock service coverage, ensuring that a technician can be on-site within hours on the same day if a technical problem arises. This proactive support structure has helped to prevent any major downtime issues, ensuring that critical school delivery deadlines are always met.
Beyond optimizing their primary yearbook operations, the efficiency of the Canon press has opened doors for strategic business expansion. Because the inkjet system is incredibly fast and efficient, the company is now exploring new product applications that feature lower ink coverage, such as custom school planners and educational calendars. This expanded capability is a massive advantage for load balancing the facility. By producing these new items during the fall when the school year begins, Entourage Yearbooks can keep the Canon press running profitably during what used to be their off-season. By leveraging their existing relationships with thousands of schools to provide a wider array of printed materials, the company is utilizing Canon technology to help secure year-round revenue streams and sustain long-term business growth.
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