Fedex Office (Kinko’s) going GRAND

GRAND-format, that is.

FedEx Office Invests in Advanced Print Technology and Talent

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Press release from the issuing company

FedEx Office^®, the leading provider of printing and shipping services, knows that businesses need cost-effective and scalable solutions to printing challenges. To help solve customer challenges, FedEx Office is accelerating investment in its infrastructure by adding additional high-end, commercial production equipment. The company is deploying new grand-format inkjet printing devices to its centralized production centers across the country for producing rigid signs, banners, posters, point of purchase materials, oversized prints and more. Also, it is expanding its experienced workforce by hiring more team members.

As further evidence of its reliability as a best-in-class print provider, FedEx Office was recently awarded a four-year contract from Boeing, the world's largest aerospace company and leading manufacturer of commercial jetliners and defense, space and security systems. Effective March 1, FedEx Office will serve as Boeing’s primary print provider, producing critical operations, sales, and large/grand format printed materials.

“FedEx Office offers a broad range of print solutions that meet the needs of customers of all sizes, and we’re continuously enhancing both our production and retail network as well as our support structure to make that happen,” said Aimee DiCicco, vice president of sales for FedEx Office. “We’ve got the depth and breadth to deliver customized solutions for our customers. Our corporate print solutions are a perfect fit for Boeing’s needs and we’re thrilled to have the opportunity to leverage our capabilities for this leading Fortune 100 company.”

Since May 2010, FedEx Office has deployed nearly 8,000 new printing devices to its U.S. and Canada locations and recently installed new automated finishing equipment at its offset printing facility. The new high-speed equipment scheduled for installation by spring includes Agfa Graphics' Jeti 3020 Titan inkjet printers and Zund G3 M-2500 digital table cutters – all of which will be critical for high quality, grand format production print runs. The company will leverage this technology to produce a variety of signage and oversized prints for various customers, from big box retailers with multiple locations across the country to large corporations and small businesses.

FedEx Office delivers world-class printing solutions that can be tailored for commercial customers’ needs. The company’s convenient network of digitally-connected retail locations, centralized production centers and around-the-clock online services help large businesses improve their productivity and maintain total control of their print supply chain. In addition, FedEx Office leverages a variable cost model, which helps corporate customers manage the bottom line. To learn about the full portfolio of FedEx Office^® Corporate Print Solutions, visit www.fedex.com/corporateprint.

Blog Publisher’s comments:

Kind of “sounds like” Fedex Office (which I still refer to as Kinko’s) is going to attempt to clone ARC’s Riot Color business model. And, it’s not like this will be an easy step for Fedex Office, inasmuch as, nowadays, most reprographers are very involved in the large-format color business and some reprographers have expanded into grand-format. (Example: recent post we did about Franklin Imaging in Ohio.) Thomas Reprographics and ABC Imaging have been very involved in grand-format printing for years. Fedex Office is likely to find the grand-format business to be a crowded, hotly competitive business. All that aside, best of luck to Fedex Office.

As to this statement made in the press release, “As further evidence of its reliability as a best-in-class print provider, FedEx Office was recently awarded a four-year contract from Boeing,” that statement made me laugh out loud. (And, when I do that at my Starbucks, which is where I start my days, they look at me like I’m strange; me sitting here, all by myself, laughing out loud.) And, that statement made me laugh because of this question …. did Boeing really select Fedex Office (over ARC) because of evidence of Fedex Office’s “reliability as a best-in-class print provider” …. or did Boeing make that decision purely because Fedex Office buys Boeing’s planes?