Digital Print Systems At Combined Council Plant

Derwentside and City of Durham district councils in the UK have a partnership to work together and provide printing services through digital printing systems supplier Oce.

The agreement means the local authorities will work as one corporate function that has brought design and print under one roof.

Printing and document management systems now in place at the purpose-built print plant in Consett, near Durham city, mean that Derwentside District Council and City of Durham Council are saving more than GBP100,000 annually on printing alone, whilst at the same time colour printing volume has increased three-fold, said Oce.

Called Inprint, it is claimed that the centre will maximise the return on investment and lead to improved services, ultimately saving money for council tax payers.

It uses Oce printing systems that were selected after market testing lasting a year.

Oce said that the benefits for both authorities include more efficient corporate working for print services, savings and much better use of resources.

Everything from basic copying through to glossy, full colour brochures is produced on the systems.

The creation of Inprint stemmed from a best-value review as part of the Gershon report in to UK public sector efficiency.

A decision was taken to have a new printing centre at Consett by merging print operations from Derwentside and City of Durham councils.

To enable the partnership to gain its own identity it was decided to transfer City of Durham's print operation - immediately saving GBP100,000 - and re-locating Inprint from the Civic Centre in Consett, to Hownsgill Industrial Park.

The funding came from the two local authorities and The North East Centre for Excellence.

Investment was made in a Heidelberg two-colour litho press and a Highwater CTP platemaking system.

Central to the whole operation is a partnership with Oce, which has provided a Varioprint 2100 mono printing system and a CPS800 colour system, as well as strategic advice.

Councillor Fraser Reynolds, leader of City of Durham Council and Councillor Alex Watson, leader of Derwentside District Council, launched the facility at an open day.

Councillor Reynolds said: "It made good business sense for us to get together to spearhead joint working in what is believed to be the first strategic print partnership of its kind anywhere in Britain.

It's a good move for us both." And Councillor Watson added: "We value this kind of strategic partnership, not only through high quality and cost-effective printing services but also by helping us to further develop our printing capabilities.

Through managing our resources in a co-ordinated, cost-effective way, we can focus on continuous improvements." Oce said that both councils now respond quicker to urgent work and have the capacity to expand further in the future.

Council tax billing, which was previously printed in Scotland, is now done under the one roof using the existing mailing equipment.

Roy Bartholomew, Oce UK's national sales manager for the public sector, said: "This is a good example of what can be achieved for district councils working together, which normally would not be able to sustain anything larger than a small reprographic and finishing facility.".

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