Every Digital Dish features stories, tips, or tricks from digital experts. This month, we spoke with Doug Hederman, CEO & President, and Terri Mascagni, Senior Account Executive, of Hederman Brothers. A fourth-generation family-owned business based in Madison, Mississippi, Hederman Brothers offers offset printing technology – with one of their presses being a KBA Rapida six-color LED UV press (the first of its kind to be installed in North America) – along with digital capabilities. They have an HP Indigo 12000 and an HP Indigo 7900. We spoke with Doug and Terri about how Hederman is using digital to create, innovate and stay ahead of the game.
For Hederman Brothers, digital printing has not only reduced the number of touches to a job, but has also enabled the company to create highly personalized, high-end print pieces — from small to large. “It might only be 50 pieces,” says Doug, “but it’s 50 pieces that have a high ROI for the customer.” The team loves to incorporate stand-out details, like white and clear inks along with variable data where you wouldn’t expect it. For an open house, they demonstrated the value added of these presses by printing personalized notepads for every guest who walked through the door.
Hederman Brothers often collaborates with their customers in the conceptual phase, allowing the Hederman team to brainstorm on how to increase the ROI of a particular piece. “The great thing about digital,” Doug says, “is that we can run a press proof and put it in the customers' hands. This allows us to print it on two or three different types of paper or use different hits of white or clear ink, giving the customer the opportunity to touch and see what the finished piece will be like before printing the entire order.”
This flexibility afforded by digital printing also helps Hederman to have more precise pricing conversations up front, especially when unique inks or finishes are involved. “With digital, it’s cost per click, and with white or clear ink, you have to hit a certain opacity or depth to get the right look. You might think it will take four hits of ink, but to achieve your customers' vision, it takes eight or twelve,” Doug says. Hederman can overcome this challenge by running a press proof first. “We can show them what four, six or eight hits look like, and then give a price based on the result”
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Hederman Brothers’ house sheet is Accent® Opaque. Says Doug, “Unless our customer requests another sheet, our go-to sheet is Accent. It has great printability at a great price point.”