Saudi Xerox and SIPC: Tale of a Great Journey Along Kingdom’s Visionary Road

With a fleet of state-of-the-art printing and converting equipment including an all new Iridesse digital press and XMPie software from Xerox, Support Industry Printing Center( SIPC) is well positioned to be part of Saudi Vision 2030. 

Founded in 1981, Support Industry Printing Center (SIPC) is one of the leading, largest and best printing companies in the KSA’s Eastern Province. The company boasts VIP clients including a number of prestigious companies in the Kingdom. The cooperation between Saudi Xerox and SIPC dates back to more than a decade. SIPC’s digital business has been activated and validated by Saudi Xerox.

Saudi Xerox recently installed and commissioned an all – new Iridesse digital press with special colors. Moreover, Saudi Xerox finalized a phase one packaging project with SIPC which consists of a special packaging machine to churn out packages of all sizes. The project is anticipated to go throw phase 2 by end of this year. In phase 2 a cup making machine will be added to the extensive fleet of SIPC’s equipment.

Saudi Xerox also provided SIPC with XMPie software to enable the company expand its personalization and marketing services to the next level. SIPC is one of the few commercial companies in KSA that offers variable data printing services to its customers and XMPie will help the company to modernize its VDP services.

Top organizational skills

SIPC is managed by Mr. Ahmed Al-Abdan  with a wealth of  experience in printing industry and business in general. He started his business career in banking Sector, where he established business relationships with a great number of  VIPs in KSA. Personally, he is a smart businessman who is able to manage the business in a professional and sophisticated way. His business orientation led him to select Xerox to satisfy the requirements of his VIP clients.

In order to find out more about SIPC and their plans for future, we sat down with Mr. Al-Abdan. Here are the excerpts:

• Your company is active in different branches of printing industry from offset to digital and you offer a variety of printing products, this requires great organizational skills and extensive pool of knowledge, what are your secret ingredients for success in such a competitive industry?

AS you mentioned Support Industry Printing Company is active in offset printing, digital signage, digital printing, conventional and digital package printing. It is no secret that the industry is becoming very competitive and what makes it even tougher is that the costs from raw materials to logistics are increasing. The supply chain interruptions have been wreaking havoc in all industries including printing throughout the world.  In such a backdrop we focus on maintaining the consistent quality, while at the same time we try to absorb some of the increase in prices so the customer doesn’t have to shoulder all the extra cost. Customer relationship is key as well.

• These days to run an efficient printing operation you need an efficient digital workflow, are you using a single workflow to manage both digital and conventional printing presses?

We at SIPC very well understand the need to have an efficient digital workflow in order to streamline day to day operations and we are indeed planning to implement an end-to-end digital workflow and other robust solutions from our trusted and long- time partner, Saudi Xerox.

• Based on Vision 2030 strategy Saudi Arabia is moving fast towards digitization of the whole economy, what is your plan to be an active part of this movement?

We have a parallel vision which consists of diversifying our offerings as well as upgrading our services using digital solutions. We are already moving in that direction. We are attuned to the Kingdom’s visionary plans for the future and very much geared to be part of this great journey.

• Most of your clients are big companies involved in oil and petrochemical industries, which demand high quality and consistent printing, what are the challenges of dealing with top demanding companies?

Consistent quality, narrow lead times while at the same time responding to urgent requests and last-minute changes to name a few. These are some of the typical challenges we usually face with our major clients. However, we always strive to anticipate and be prepared for the unexpected.

• You are also a major player in transactional and digital printing and you purchased a state-of-the-art Iridesse digital press from non-other than Saudi Xerox, why you decided to partner with Saudi Xerox and what impact the new Xerox machine had on your operations in terms of quality and customer satisfaction?

Our relationship with Saudi Xerox goes back to more than 10 years and during our journey with them we have experienced first-hand the professionalism and a true partnership, not a usual supplier/customer relationship. Therefore, while aiming to add a new technology to our fleet, we considered Xerox as our top choice, in addition to that, the new Iridesse is packed with innovative features  such as Underlay and Overlay options as well as choice of special colors including Gold, Silver, Clear and white, which other models from our competitors in the market cannot match.

• You are also among few professional companies that is offering personalized products. Personalization is tricky and full of challenges – specially in our region- because it deals with data, and clean data is hard to find, I assume that is why you have decided to opt for XMPie software from Xerox, in which way you think XMPie will help you to tackle personalization challenges?

Saudi Xerox has showcased the XMPie software during Gulf Print exhibition and immediately it caught our attention because we found it an ideal solution for our upcoming  personalization and web to print setup in 2022.

• Online shopping and web to print are in high demand, are you offering these types of services with the help of Xerox equipment?

This is definitely within our plan for this year.

• Based on every fact and figure published by reputable research organization digital printing is growing much faster than almost stagnant conventional printing, as a company that offers both digital and conventional printing do you agree with this assessment and are you planning to expand your activities within digital printing sector in partnership with Saudi Xerox?

I do agree with this statement, while I should also add that Digital packaging segment is expected to grow exponentially  during next 10 years.

• You are also offering package printing services to your customers, which is one of the most dynamic parts of printing industry specially after Covid crisis, what are your future plans for investment in package printing equipment?

As stated previously, digital packaging is one of our areas of interest and last year we have invested in an offline finishing system for folding carton that includes die cutting, gluing, window patching and  folding.  Our plan this year is to add a cup making machine.

• Last but not least, how would you describe your experience working with Saudi Xerox, as far as technology, service and training are concerned?

In my opinion, and I am sure many will agree, Xerox is and will be the leader in the digital printing technology, and considering all the new developments and equipment they bring to  the market I don’t think their enviable position is at risk anytime soon. In KSA, Saudi Xerox is doing a great job on the ground and I am fully satisfied with the level of commitment, service and training we are getting.

About Saudi Xerox

Saudi Xerox is the representation of Xerox in Saudi Arabia. It was established in 1986, with business lines that include providing solutions to improve business processes, automation, and printing technology through an innovative vision of maximizing productivity and efficiency to create a better work environment. Saudi Xerox offers the full array of Xerox products and services ranging from workplace assistants, workflow solutions and managed print services in the KSA market. We address global and local market challenges consistently together in alignment with Xerox global standard. For more information, please visit www.saudixerox.com