Sture Udd, founder and CEO of UPC Print and UpCode Solutions Ltd. (right, in front of the Vivo log stacker): “Many printed-product customers work based on cost per product, but working on a cost-per-order basis makes much more sense.” Left: Tom Lindström (Sales Manager at Muller Martini Finland).

“Video killed the radio star” sang British pop act Buggles in their number one hit 30 years ago. They were wrong though: motion pictures took nothing away from radio. “Multimedia is killing print,” is what many pessimists are saying today. “They are wrong,” says Sture Udd. This Finnish media expert is not only the founder and CEO of UPC Print, but also CEO of UpCode Solutions Ltd and the inventor of UpCode – a system he refers to as “supermedia” that now has presence in 56 countries on the market.

UpCode cleverly combines printed paper with a cell phone (the fact it was invented in Nokia’s home country of Finland is hardly a coincidence). It employs the principle of “mobile tagging,” which involves using a cell phone to scan a black-and-white square reminiscent of a jumbled-up chess board or a Tetris game. The UpCode reader software decodes the information stored in the printed 2D barcode (such as product information or sales promotions) and displays it on the phone’s screen in the relevant language. The software itself is free; the only fees are those for the network provider.

“Cost-Per-Order Basis Makes Much More Sense”

“Many printed-product customers work based on cost per product,” explains Sture Udd. “Unfortunately, many traditional advertisers and printers do not realize that working on a cost-per-order basis makes much more sense. I can use a mathematical formula to prove that printing an UpCode on brochures, promotional leaflets and flyers increases sales by 15 to 20 percent. That is why print has a future, and why UPC Print is therefore more than just a printing house – I prefer to call it a communication center.”

Anyone using their cell phone to scan the UpCode in the street plan of Moscow printed by UPC Print will receive information on businesses located in the corresponding areas of the city. The publisher’s printing costs for the street plan are covered by commission, which it receives every time an UpCode is accessed.

Street Plan Promotes Sales Campaigns

Sture Udd gives us an impressive example in the form of a 300-page, perfect-bound street plan of Moscow, which he produces for a Russian customer. Until just recently, this plan was generated in a run of 30,000 copies, which then needed to be sold. However, with more and more drivers turning to satellite navigation, the run decreased rapidly.

To combat this, the publisher implemented a shift in concept: The Moscow street plan is now produced in a run of 150,000 copies and is free of charge. It also features an UpCode on numerous pages, providing advertisements for businesses based in the corresponding part of the city and continuously promoting new sales campaigns. The publisher’s printing costs for the city guide are covered by commission, which it receives every time an UpCode is accessed. This is possible because UpCode allows you to identify the printed product from which it was accessed.

Special Challenge: Thin Paper

In business since 1978 and with a workforce of 100 people, UPC Print has a number of external customers, 50 percent of whom are located overseas. But that’s not all: the company also has two of its own weekly direct marketing magazines for the Finnish market that go by the names of “Mega” (with a run of 100,000 copies) and “Asuntolehti Bostadsbladet” (40,000 copies). Both products are printed using the high-quality heatset process and are cut by a Preciso and a Compacto rotary trimmer.

When it comes to its innovative products, UPC turns to innovative solutions from Muller Martini. Take the press delivery system, for example: When you’re dealing with 100 metric tonnes of printed paper a day, it is essential to have a flawless interface between printing and finishing. That’s why UPC – alongside its two rotary trimmers, a Forte and Listo stacker with a Cohiba palleting system for press-finished products – also has three log stackers from Muller Martini (two Avanti and one Vivo) at its Vaasa site. The equipment faces particularly tough challenges because UPC primarily uses thin paper weighing just 50 grams – sometimes even less.

PrimaPlus Puts the Primera E140 to the Test

The logs are fed via a PrimaPlus commissioned in 2006 (Sture Udd: “That was our test, and Muller Martini passed with flying colors”) and a Primera C140 from the new generation of saddle stitchers from Muller Martini, which was introduced in the summer of 2009. There were two key factors involved in opting for Muller Martini solutions – Sture Udd explains: “First was the experience Muller Martini had built up in print finishing over the decades, and the second was the fact that I can obtain all my solutions from a single source. Because all our finishing systems come from the same supplier, we save money (e.g. in the initial stage of a new machine) and benefit from synergies (because our machine operators can use all of the systems). It’s also a big plus on the service front, as it means I only have to deal with one contact.”