Scanning--Flattening the Competition

Ever wonder how the best stay ahead of the competition? Just ask the staff at Millet The Printer, a family-owned general commercial printer in Dallas.

Millet The Printer enjoys that reputation of striving to be the best. Research, hard work and a variety of jobs led the 65-year-old company to detour from the drum scanner market by purchasing a Cézanne flatbed CCD scanner from Screen (USA) last October. The company hasn't regretted the purchase.

"Previously, we didn't have nearly enough scanner capacity for our production needs," says Mike Stoker, prepress manager for Millet. "Our drum scanner alone was not sufficient. We thought flatbed quality had improved over the last two years, so we worked with equipment dealer ABV Graphics in Irving to find a solution. Bob Nordman did a great job researching the scanner market, and we made the decision to go with Cézanne."

Big in Texas
And a key decision it has proven to be. Millet does a tremendous range of work for many longstanding customers in Texas. With the continual growth of a thriving Dallas marketplace, the private company has expanded its efforts to include a wide gamut of industries. With 95 employees, Millet currently does business within the high-powered Dallas advertising and corporate communities, as well as with prestigious universities (such as Southern Methodist) and non-profit groups, including various churches and the American Red Cross.

The variety of work, coupled with the need for a versatile type of scanner to accomplish the work, was one of the most intriguing features of Cézanne, says Stoker.

"Cézanne has certainly produced results better than I expected," reflects Stoker, who added Screen's newest flatbed scanner to his department shortly after the PRINT 97 show. "The second day we used Cézanne, we were able to scan 20 separate images in one hour. It produces better quality than I hoped for after reading the Seybold research reports that Bob [Nordman] showed me before we decided to buy the machine."

Customers have noticed the difference, too, perhaps the greatest reason why more than 1,000 units have been sold worldwide since its introduction at PRINT 97.

"I had one customer who had a four-color project to do, but one of his concerns was saving money," recalls Stoker. "He had 20 35mm transparencies that we left in their sleeves and scanned them. The quality and focus of Cézanne is that good."

Stoker appreciates the flexibility Cézanne adds to his department, among other things. "The depth of our work is tied into Cézanne's flexibility and versatility," notes Stoker. "I'm able to do all my logos and line art faster and with great quality, especially the black-and-white work. Not only have we seen an improvement in quality, but productivity has benefitted, too. Cézanne also allows room for learning and improvement. That was a significant concern because our workload is constantly changing with the many different kinds of customers we have, and the variety of work we do."

"Cézanne is the right solution for Millet because of the incredible amount and variety of work they perform everyday," says ABV Graphics' Nordman. "Mike has an excellent staff and a couple of operators who have really embraced it. They only needed a couple days of training and were gung-ho about Cézanne right from the start."