Plastic Card Services (PCS) was shortlisted for a KBA (UK) Ltd 1814 Production Excellence Award, for its usage of the KBA Genius 52UV in its project for Coop Danmark, Denmark’s largest supermarket chain.
This annual award, which commemorates the commissioning of the first ever power-driven press in November 1814, recognises landmark achievements by UK printers using KBA presses.
The Coop project required PCS to provide a complete solution for its national loyalty scheme, including base stock production, full personalisation, and direct mailing fulfilment. While producing the cards, PCS had to ensure that all materials and processes were as environmentally-friendly as possible.
In utilising the KBA Genius 52UV for the work, PCS was able to blend the use of a biodegradable polymer core material, and biodegradable overlays, with the production benefits on the Genius, which include minimal VOCs, no alcohol used in the process, and the fact that it is waterless. By putting these together, PCS created a finished loyalty card product which carried the strongest environmental credentials.
The production run was for 2,500,000 copies, with over 2 million mailed for the launch over a four-month period, and the initial order value was £750,000.
As a result of the cards produced by PCS and the Genius, Coop reported a highly successful take up post-mailing, with 98% signing up for the loyalty scheme online.
PCS’s Managing Director, Rob Nicholls, commented: “To be shortlisted for such a prestigious national award is a fantastic achievement for us, and reflects the success of this project. The KBA Genius press was instrumental in the project, as its environmental benefits enabled us to provide exactly what Coop required: an environmentally-friendly card that could be produced on a national scale.”
The award was won by Aldersons Print Group, with SMP Group Ltd being shortlisted alongside PCS.
The awards presentation took place at the KBA (UK) Ltd Press Lunch at the Trafalgar Hotel in London, on Thursday 24th November.
