DFS, formerly known as Direct Furnishing Supplies, is an international furniture retailer which specialises in sofas and soft furnishings. It is a British company through and through with a commitment to promote excellence in manufacturing and service at their three factories in the UK and over 100 stores nationwide.
DFS take an individual approach with each and every customer, sitting down, chatting through ideas, and generally taking the time to understand what the customer is looking for. They focus on providing ways for customers to realise the potential of their sofas by providing a room planner app, inspirational room designs, interior designer advice and a wide range of styles and quality fabrics to choose from. All helping DFS to be Britain’s favourite sofa company.
The Brief
The brief received from DFS was to print and produce a range of POS graphics for their Summer Sale campaign. The artwork supplied included railing banners, window graphics, 12 sheet posters and glass easel posters – totalling over 2,500 pieces of point of sale printing to be delivered in bulk to the client’s distribution centre.
Challenge
The average turnaround time for projects like this is usually between six and eight days, however due to last minute client artwork changes printing, quality checking, guillotine work, packing and fulfillment were to be completed in four days.
Solution
Normally, each version would be estimated separately and then be submitted into the studio to be quality checked. However, an internal order creation and artwork proofing system was quickly implemented to speed up the standard process. This system meant that common items could be selected, quantities and delivery addresses inputted, and artwork could be attached for easy customer proofing, cutting out the entire studio checking stage.
Results
The solution provided the following benefits: – Time reduced within the checking process to ensure that tight deadlines were met – A new process was introduced for large urgent projects to ensure we reduced future turnaround times for all clients – Highly visible effective point of sale graphics all delivered within budget
Technology
For best quality prints, the posters were produced on the Agfa M-Press Tiger large format machine. Due to the dimensions and the speed of print required, the banners were produced on the Durst Rho 500R printer. For exceptional quality, the 12 sheet posters were printed on the HP TJ8600 machine.
