This is a true game-changer for customers

The Dutch company Bonbox, saw an opportunity to build a new business offering personalised and embellished packaging products for consumers. An online portal was set up and an investment made in an MGI JetVarnish EVO to print the orders. Check out why they did this, and how successful it was!

Packaging has biggest growth potential

Bonbox is an initiative of two brothers Arlo and Ischa Swartz. Arlo had been active for 25 years as a multi-brand reseller of print technology, and Ischa is an entrepreneur, most recently in the veterinary industry. Early 2020 Arlo saw how one of his customers made a successful transition from being a traditional offset printer to becoming an innovative provider of various packaging solutions, using various digital technologies. As the business of this customer started to flourish, he realised that the packaging market will become the biggest growth potential for any printing business.

In the summer of 2020 Arlo joined another customer to see a demonstration of the MGI JetVarnish 3DS at the Konica Minolta Customer Center in Paris, which digitally prints a varnish and foil to enhance any printed product. Immediately, he saw the opportunity for this solution as a true game-changer for many of his customers in commercial printing as well as for packaging converters.

“It was as if all the dots connected during that demonstration,” says Arlo Swartz. “With my experience in this industry, I know full well how difficult it has become for print providers to run a healthy print business just on selling good quality, at low pricing and with good service. Now I saw a way to enhance the printed products in a way that will truly make it stand out. This will enable print providers to offer products that deliver much more impact for the end user, and in the process, they themselves can earn a much better profit margin. Print embellishment is already well known in the packaging industry, but is not yet often seen in the graphic arts market; and if it is offered, it is usually outsourced.”
 

Superior versatility and online printing

When Arlo’s customer decided to postpone the investment, Arlo decided to benefit from this opportunity himself. Together with his brother Ischa he developed a business plan to offer personalised and embellished packaging products for consumers. It was soon clear that the B2 size offered by the MGI JetVarnish EVO, would provide much more versatility compared to the A3 size machine he had seen in Paris. By October of 2020 the plan was agreed, in November the contracts were signed, and the installation of the JetVarnish 3D
EVO was completed by early December – just in time for the expected Christmas peak season!

In parallel to the technical installation, Bonbox had set up an online portal (www.mijnbonbox.nl) to take the orders, and started an intensive advertising campaign using various mass media channels (including television ads). To start out, some basic types of packaging were offered, including a ‘pillow pack’, a wine bottle case, and a jewellery box. All products can be personalised with text and pictures, and can be enhanced with all sorts of varnish textures, foil, etc.!
 

Delivering impact with embellishment

 
“Within weeks of operation, the incoming business exceeded our expectations,” continues Arlo Swartz. “We actually had to stop accepting orders, because our workflow couldn’t handle the large number of orders. We are now almost ready with a fully automated fulfilment process, and once implemented we are in a much better position to handle new production peaks. We expect to break even within the year. Seeing the track record of some online card providers, we are expecting a steady growth, as our market awareness will continue to grow in the next years. The current pandemic is actually helping our business, as many people are now ordering and shipping things online, and we see a huge surge in interest to enhance and personalise the packaging. It is all about impact! You can imagine that I’m very happy with this initial result. This embellishment solution has already delivered more than we planned, and I’m expecting great results in our business in the rest of this year.”