YPS – formerly Your Printing Supplies – has refreshed its brand identity and is now known as Your Print Specialists. In line with its rebranding - which reflects the company's repositioning as a wide format reseller - YPS has joined the Mimaki channel and will now supply the manufacturer's range of printers, software and finishing equipment, supported by exclusive UK and Ireland distributor Hybrid Services.
Having built its reputation as a fast, reliable and service-led partner for screen and litho consumables, YPS will continue to serve these markets, but will focus on introducing new opportunities in wide format production to printers in the North East of England. The YPS logo has become an eye-catching rainbow motif – designed to be a visual reminder of the broad spectrum of products and services it now offers.
"We realised there was an opportunity to build on our excellent channel and brand loyalty in the North East by introducing wide format opportunities to our customers," explains Garry Brown, managing director of YPS. "Our rebrand reinforces that we are the perfect specialist technical partner for all those in the wide format print space – particularly businesses looking to take advantage of the possibilities offered by digital print.
"Resultantly, we were looking for the right partner to provide market-leading digital technologies to our channel," Brown continues. "We quickly identified Mimaki for its world-renowned range, and for its UK master distributor Hybrid Services, which has the same, prominent customer service ethic as we do. Together, our goal is to increase customers' profitability and competitive advantage through the Mimaki range of digital products."
Hybrid's national sales manager John de la Roche welcomes YPS to the Mimaki reseller channel, citing the company's strong reputation in the North East as key to its appointment: "We're delighted to be working with Garry and his team at YPS. The company's experience within the graphics market puts it in a strong position to supply and support our products."
YPS will soon launch a new demonstration suite to give interested parties the chance to investigate the broad range of Mimaki technologies on offer. Visitors will be able to see the Mimaki JV33 family and the UJF-3042FX flat-bed desktop printer, alongside a range of complementary products, including the latest SignLab and Colorgate software, plus cutters and laminators.
The partnership between YPS and Hybrid Services has already proven successful, with two Mimaki machines snapped up by businesses within days of the agreement being active. Display and brochure printer PPD has invested in a Mimaki JV33-160, the popular 1.6m platform for durable outdoor graphics, while Aztec Colourprint has made its first foray into digital with a 1.3m JV33-130. Both companies will benefit from the JV33 platform's improved print-head accuracy, which offers a 30 percent increase in production speed, and the unique Mimaki Uninterrupted Ink Supply System, allowing the machine to print continuously unattended – a significant boon in cost and productivity for smaller PSPs.
"The early success of our agreement with Hybrid Services to supply Mimaki equipment is testament to our philosophy of providing a personalised service with a promise to offer the best value for money," concludes Brown. "In the current economic climate, PSPs value return on investment greater than purchasing the cheapest kit; we support our customers every step of the way to deliver exactly that."
YPS's new arrangement with Hybrid Services and Mimaki will see it promote the potential for wide-format digital print technology with companies in the North East