by Piet De Pauw, Head of Marketing, Enfocus
Jelgavas Tipogrāfija is one of the Baltic region’s biggest and most technologically advanced printing houses, specializing in book production. They produce hard, soft, flexible, spiral, and various non-standard binding books. Their specialists can produce over 35 different types of bindings and have the flexibility to meet experimental challenges and find new technological solutions to satisfy clients’ ideas and aspirations.
“This is a great tool for initially checking print files and for giving the client simple instructions about any problems with the print files they send us.” - Liza Riznikova, Project Manager for the French market
What problem were you looking to solve?
LR: My clients often send us files with incorrect sizes, insufficient bleed, black text prepared in CMYK, wrong color content (e.g. Pantones instead of CMYK, 5 colors instead of 4 colors, RGB images instead of CMYK), etc. I don’t have access to the professional prepress tools and software that our technicians use, and it is not the project manager’s task to check a client’s PDF file. However, sometimes I’d prefer to make a fast, initial check myself before sending the files to the prepress department. I can immediately inform the client that the size or Pantones are incorrect before the technical prepress verification starts. Without BoardingPass, sometimes this would happen only 2-3 days after the file has been submitted.
“BoardingPass is a shortcut for assessing print files and informing clients about any errors in an easy to understand way before they are sent to the prepress department for specific processing.” - Liza Riznikova, Project Manager for the French market
How did you hear about BoardingPass?
LR: Our Prepress Department Manager suggested BoardingPass to project managers. He found out about this product at the Enfocus seminar in Riga when Andrew Bailes-Collins from Enfocus explained this idea. The BoardingPass idea matched our observations at the time, that vendors and project managers lack the tools to easily assess files sent by clients. When the BoardingPass pre-release version was available, we decided to let our colleagues try it out. We found it very useful and can no longer do without it in our daily work.
What helped you decide to get on board with BoardingPass?
LR: We had a one-month free trial version to test BoardingPass before buying the license. The experience was more than positive. I discovered a useful tool that I have dreamed of having for ages. At the same time, the software is not too complicated and is easy to use for a person who doesn’t have professional prepress or graphic designer skills. I convinced my boss to buy the license because BoardingPass really helps me to save time in my daily work by reducing unnecessary communication with the client and the prepress department. Every minute is important when you have a lot of work. I can no longer imagine my daily work as a project manager without BoardingPass.
Liza Riznikova is the Project Manager for the French market at Jelgavas Tipogrāfija. It is her job to take orders, make calculations, offer various solutions and materials, and many other things. Essentially, she’s an intermediary or a bridge between the book client and production specialists. Responsibility before the client is enormous and, as the company’s representative, the project manager must be a trustworthy person and advisor, always available, ready to provide fast and accurate answers, and able to ask the right question to ensure a flawless result. As a project manager, she not only has to run the project but be very knowledgeable about the work and specifications of her colleagues who are involved in the project. This is the only way to ensure a flowing one-directional movement, which doesn’t waste her time or that of her client and colleagues.
About Jelgavas Tipogrāfija
Jelgavas Tipogrāfija production processes including book printing, binding, and finishing are carried out in-house. We currently produce about five million books, and over 60% of our products are exported to publishers in Western Europe and Scandinavia. In the past five years, our turnover has risen by 38% and we have invested over 20 million EUR in new equipment and production facilities. With a production facility based in the beautiful green country of Latvia, on the outskirts of Jelgava, environmental and sustainability issues are part and parcel of our daily work. We are constantly seeking ways to reduce the company's CO2 footprint and aim to eventually become a climate-neutral plant. We are proud of our Nordic Swan Ecolabel and FSC® certificates, and electricity used in our production processes is exclusively sourced from renewable energy sources. Everyday work at the plant includes communicating with publishers, receiving and checking files, calculating costs, identifying and proposing the best technical solutions and materials to our clients, preparing files for printing, working with printing, binding and finishing equipment, and packing and delivering books to excited, impatient and happy publishers and authors in both domestic and export markets.
