Large Format Review was offered the chance to sit in on an interview between Colourgen, the UK’s leading specialist distributor of large format digital colour printing solutions, consumables, bespoke software, engineering and support services, and Dragan Gardasevic, managing director of Colourgen reseller, Random Choice Solutions.
Dragan Gardasevic has nearly 20 years experience in digital printing and is a familiar name to many in the industry. In the following interview, he discusses the ethos behind Random Choice Solutions and focuses on the benefits of Epson’s range of wide format printers…
Colourgen (COL) How did Random Choice come to be?
Dragan Gardasevic (DG) I formed Random Choice with Mary Gray back in 2003 after my previous company merged with MC Imaging. At that time we were resellers of prepress and digital photography equipment. With Random Choice we were able to remodel the business to be more focused on a specific range of applications and services. Fortunately, even in this industry you can still make money using your brain, not just shifting products!
While we have essentially modeled the company as a consultancy, our core business falls into three categories. The first is hardware and equipment sales. We have been selling Epson wide format printers since day one and we have more recently moved into solvent printer sales. We also sell software RIPs from the likes of EFI and Caldera.
The second part of the business is technical services and we are particularly strong at colour management. We also provide installation, training and support. Finally, we have also established ourselves as a strong consumables sales company. We try to deliver real value to customers, ensuring that our inks and media work well together with the machines our customers have. We will also develop profiles etc to help customers get up and running as quickly and as accurately as possible.
We have had a pretty good run over the last couple of years, despite the general doom and gloom in the market. I believe this is because of our commitment to helping customers work their way through the minefield of options out there.
COL Why have you focused on the Epson range for water-based printers?
DG We have sold Epson printers right from the beginning. I suppose this is because of our photographic and proofing background. In terms of quality there is really very little that can touch the Epson range. They are all excellent quality, easy to use and very reliable.
More recently we have been selling more printers into the display market and here too the Epson range is second to none. As we have moved into display and sign-making, we have also been drawn into the solvent market and once again, Epson is right there with another top quality product.
Our proofing expertise has meant we are very strong with the EFI RIP, but as we have moved more into display and sign-making, we have become committed to the Caldera RIP, which works really well with the Epson GS6000.
COL What is it you like about the Epson GS6000?
DG The GS6000 has always been an interesting product for us because it comes from a family of printers we know very well and it also takes us into a market that we are trying to attack. It took a while for the product to have the right range of media to accompany it and also to be able to offer it at a more appropriate price point, but now that those issues have been resolved, it is an excellent printer for companies looking for a little bit more than a traditional solvent printer. It is still a little more expensive, but the advantages more than outweigh this increase for customers with the right requirements.
With the GS6000, our customers can give themselves a real competitive edge in what is a hugely competitive market. No other solvent offers the high end quality of the GS6000 and this is something that printers can use to win more business and carve their own niche in the market.
We have sold the printer into established printing companies that are fed up with outsourcing work and losing revenue. With the GS6000 they can go to their customers and deliver a complete printing solution, retaining profits and providing an overall better service. Each time we have demonstrated the difference in quality, the customer has been smart enough to realise that this gives them more options and more opportunities to gain more business at a higher value. This makes the GS6000 worth the small additional premium over more standard solvent printers.
The fact that we also work with Colourgen is a key factor. I have worked with them for many years for all our Epson products. They are an excellent partner, well informed, reliable and trustworthy and they know their products very well.
COL How does the RIP help with these sales?
DG A similar strategy with the Caldera RIP really. It is more expensive than some other RIPs, but it delivers something a bit different that can help the customer make money. It seems pointless to invest in a printer like the GS6000 and not have a RIP that lets you get the very best out of it. Our own expertise helps in this area as we can provide the colour management and profiling tools they need to ensure they are successful in their venture.
Caldera and the GS6000 go very well together. Caldera has an unprecedented number of tools and includes features that are geared up to meet the actual requirements of display and sign printing and the GS6000 creates output of unparalleled quality. As well as the GS6000, Caldera supports a long list of printers and is excellent in a networking environment. I come from a computing background, so setting up complex printing networks is an area where Random Choice can really excel and provide value for our customers.
COL How important is the environmental consideration of buying a GS6000?
DG There are no nasty black crosses on the box, which is a very important part of a sale and you don’t need any extraction, which balances out the additional cost of the printer. The Caldera RIP optimises the process to ensure as many substrates as possible can be printed on successfully.
However, overall I am a little cynical over green issues, where there has been a lot of hype and not a lot of sense spoken.
[photo shows Dragan Gardasevic, managing director of Random Choice Solutions and the Epson GS6000 printer]
About Colourgen
Colourgen is the UK’s leading specialist distributor of large format digital colour printing solutions, consumables, bespoke software, engineering and support services. The Company is the exclusive UK distributor for the Seiko IIColorPainter W Series, V-64S and H-Series mild solvent printers and entire Mutoh range. Colourgen also distributes EPSON’s aqueous large format printers and consumables and the Seal and Kala ranges of laminators and finishing products. Colourgen specialises in delivering total solutions based on the industry’s best, most reliable products together with unrivalled consultancy, installation, technical support, maintenance and training.
