Printwear & Promotion The Total Promotional Package
Paul Booth of Ultimate Identity explains how he has used his Roland DG machines to capture the education market.
Ultimate Identity began life as a part-time business venture that Paul Booth started in 1996 and ran from a small office in Blackburn. He initially invested in a Roland DG CAMM-1 GX-24 cut machine to manufacture high quality business cards.
The GX-24 cutter machine is the predecessor to the Roland DG CAMM-1 GS-24 Desktop Cutter and was the ideal entry level machine, equipped to cut a wide range of materials that Ultimate Identity needed to produce bespoke products for its clients. The desktop cutter worked with precision and efficiency making the production of high quality business cards easier than Paul had ever imagined. Soon the Blackburn-based company began to specialise in supplying premium products to the niche education sector, and as profit margins grew, in 1998 Ultimate Identity became a full-time profit maker.
Vast product capabilities
As well as an impressive consistent quality output, Paul began to realise the vast product capabilities that could be achieved with ease using the versatile Roland DG machine and thus, began to increase his product range. Ultimate Identity, which now prints schools and college name badges, wristbands, first aid books and awards, expanded its product line to offer its clients a vast range of products fit for the education sector. This includes: personalised college crested water bottles, hi-vis vests, college uniforms and school book carry bags.
Paul said: “Although I shopped around a lot to find the perfect machine for my business requirements, it was actually a recommendation that led me to Roland DG. I wanted to ensure the equipment I used matched my values of quality and success of my business and as soon as I was introduced to the GX-24 I knew this was the right manufacturer and machine for me – the quality, precision and reliability is next to none.”
Having realised the opportunities that his first Roland DG machine had provided, it wasn’t long before Paul invested in his second form of the VersaSTUDIO BN-20. The desktop inkjet printer/cutter was an ideal addition to the Ultimate Identity business due to its ability to produce full colour cut graphics on a broad spectrum of media. The addition of the BN-20 enabled Ultimate Identity to print vivid bespoke school and college logos and graphics and in turn, the company was able to enter into the clothing market; suppling schools with personalised school crested uniforms, PE bags, and waterproof school jackets.
Keep profit margins high
Keen to ensure his products maintained the premium finish that his end-users were used to, Paul complemented his BN-20 printer and cutter with Roland DG’s award winning ECO-SOL MAX ink. The ink running costs are low for continuous printing, allowing Paul to keep his profit margins high, without compromising on high-quality vibrant prints.
Paul added: “Our Roland DG machine is on the go 85% of the time when the office is open and we have never had a problem; the machine’s efficiency and reliability is absolutely second to none and saves us a lot of time and money. Roland DG has been the perfect solution for the bespoke and premium high quality products that we supply and the versatility of the machines has meant we have been able to diversify our product lines to give us that competitive streak.”
Ultimate Identity currently works with 3,000 customers across the UK, but Paul has hopes for further growth. Paul plans to do this with further help from Roland. “We are truly loyal to Roland DG and the repeat custom we get from the quality of our college kit is why. We are expanding both locally and nationally and want to ensure that we have the ability to add a new range of products to offer our number of loyal customers,” he said.
After discovering the endless product possibilities that Roland DG’s versatile machines can provide, Ultimate Identity has flourished in its niche market, selling school and college kit to the education market.
