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After three years, Charles Jarrold, Southernprint's managing director, says he is relaxing into his role. Winning the Catalogue Printer and Consumer Magazine Printer of the Year categories at this year's PrintWeek Awards is testament to his success in a quest for manufacturing perfection that continues unabated.

Jarrold’s impact has been significant, according to Paul Toms, the Poole-based company’s operations director. He says that a real culture change has taken place with a “revolution” in customer service and lean manufacturing.

Toms adds: “Good customer service is essential. In the past, we would argue with clients over small amounts of money. Now we realise that developing long-term relationships is paramount. It’s about going the extra mile.”

For Jarrold, a trained accountant, the importance of getting customer service right hit home during his experience at US-based publisher IDG. “Seeing a multi-billion-dollar business maintain first-name relationships with its clients was a real eye opener,” he says.

Big business is closer to Southernprint’s gates than many realise. The company is owned by Newsquest Media Group, the UK division of US publishing giant Gannett.

After his appointment in 2005, Jarrold set about changing the status-quo at Southernprint, buying and installing a raft of new kit and reshuffling the management team.

Keeping up with technology is crucial to Jarrold and Southernprint’s plant list is impressive. An 11-unit sheetfed Manroland 700 perfector, the longest press of its type in the UK, stands alongside a 64/72pp Manroland Lithoman IV with a huge MegTec dryer. It also has three Heidelberg four-colour ‘workhorse’ web presses and a 16pp Komori.

Competitive spirit
As part of his revamp, Jarrold called on the expertise of lean manufacturing specialist Vision in Print (ViP) to tighten up the firm’s operation. Toms says: “Manufacturing is traditionally neglected in print. While motor companies such as Nissan and Toyota made innovative changes, print didn’t reciprocate. Southernprint is making small, but significant changes.”

ViP devised a series of ‘5C’ initiatives to improve the firm’s operation including a scheme in which press faults, however small, are written down on red slips and stuck to presses to help alert staff to potential problems before they escalate.

The result of this streamlining is plain to see. Productivity has hit record levels. The team achieved 480,000 64pp sections in one shift on one of its Lithoman presses, a feat acknowledged as world class by Manroland. And these efforts don’t go unrewarded. “Wine, chocolates and a certificate may seem trivial, but introducing competitiveness is no bad thing and printers are naturally competitive people,” says Toms.

Competitiveness is a common trait at Southernprint and has helped it bag major contracts despite tough economic times, but things have not been entirely rosy. Jarrold says Quebecor World’s collapse earlier this year did not yield the anticipated boom. He adds: “Business must be tightly run. We produce high volumes at low margins, but we cope well and will continue to grow.”

The catalogue market is one such growth area. “Magazine production tends to take place in the middle of the month. Catalogues help fill in the gaps. We were under-represented in this area so it was a big focus,” Jarrold says. Next, Saga and QE Travel are among the clients now onboard.

Digital ambitions
Magazines, however, remain Southernprint’s mainstay, accounting for around 70% of its output. Lee Godwin, Southernprint’s sales director, holds up Tyler Brûlé-published Monocle to demonstrate the printer’s high-quality work.

The monthly A4 title’s glossy cover contrasts with its artfully grainy images printed on unique uncoated paper. It also features a comicbook insert, affixed using a perforated tear. Goodwin says: “Magazines require a unique selling point and we can help provide that.”

Clients include PrintWeek publisher Haymarket, Bauer, IPC and niche publishers like Panini, and, according to Jarrold, the magazine market remains solid. “Titles that rely on classified adverts have suffered because of the internet, but the market is buoyant. It’s inconceivable now that the sector will shrink dramatically,” he says.

Jarrold’s confidence has perhaps given him the security to pursue new avenues. He says: “Losing focus on the core of our business would be a mistake, but publishers are now talking up digital technology, so it’s up to us to react.”

Exciting times lie ahead for Southernprint and the magazine sector. Watch this space for some big announcements sooner rather than later.

SOUTHERNPRINT FACTFILE

Founded 1846
Turnover £38m
Managing director Charles Jarrold
Staff 350
HQ Poole, Dorset
Kit includes 64/72pp Manroland Lithoman IV, 48pp Heidelberg Sunday M4000, 16pp Komori System 40A-II, two 32pp Heidelberg M850