"Staples Printing Cut Our Brochure Turnaround Time in Half": A Production Manager's Story

“We were drowning in last-minute print requests and inconsistent quality,” says David Lim, Production Manager at Nova Marketing, a mid-sized agency based in Singapore. “Every brochure we ordered seemed to come back with different colors. Our clients noticed. We needed a reliable partner.”

Nova Marketing handles campaigns for retail and food brands across Southeast Asia. Their print needs range from custom poster board printing for in-store displays to staples brochure printing for client pitches. But their previous suppliers couldn’t keep up. Color shifts, late deliveries, and rising costs were eating into margins and damaging client trust.

Then they found Staples Printing. This case study looks at how Nova Marketing tackled their production bottlenecks, the specific solutions they implemented, and the measurable results they achieved. It’s a story about choosing the right partner—and the difference that makes.

Company Overview and History

Nova Marketing was founded in 2015 and has grown to a team of 22 people. They serve about 40 active clients, mostly in retail, food and beverage, and lifestyle. Their office in Singapore includes a small in-house design team of five. Print production is outsourced, but managing those vendors had become a full-time job for David.

“We don’t have a dedicated print buyer,” David explains. “So when something goes wrong—wrong color, wrong size, late delivery—it lands on my desk. And it was happening every week.”

The agency’s print volume is moderate: around 3,000 to 5,000 pieces per month, split between posters, brochures, business cards, and occasional custom poster board printing. But the variety and tight deadlines made it hard to find a single supplier who could handle everything without constant firefighting.

Quality and Consistency Issues

The biggest problem was color. Nova Marketing’s clients have strict brand guidelines. A food brand’s signature red had to match across every poster and brochure. “We’d approve a proof, then the final print would come back noticeably different,” David says. “Not just slightly off—sometimes a completely different shade.”

Delivery was another headache. For a retail launch, they needed 200 custom poster board printing pieces in three days. Their previous printer quoted five days. “We ended up paying express shipping and still missed the setup date,” David recalls. “That’s when we started asking, how long does FedEx poster printing take? Because we were relying on couriers to fix our supplier’s delays.”

Costs were creeping up too. Waste from reprints and rushed jobs added 15–20% to their print budget. They tried three different local printers, but each had the same issues: inconsistent quality, no accountability, and no real urgency. “We were stuck,” David says.

Solution Design and Configuration

Nova Marketing’s design lead suggested trying Staples Printing. They had used them for small staples business cards printing jobs before and liked the quality. This time, they wanted a full solution. Staples Printing offered a centralized portal where Nova could upload files, select substrates, and track orders. More importantly, they offered color management support.

“We sent them our brand color profiles,” David says. “They calibrated their presses to match. For the first time, we didn’t have to cross our fingers.” The solution also included poster printing custom options—different sizes, finishes, and mounting—all under one roof. No more coordinating between multiple vendors.

Staples Printing configured the account with preset templates for recurring items: brochures, business cards, and posters. Nova’s team could order in minutes. For larger campaigns, Staples Printing assigned a dedicated rep who understood their deadlines. “It felt like they actually cared about our business,” David notes.

Implementation Strategy

They started with a pilot: 500 staples business cards printing pieces and 100 staples brochure printing pieces for a client pitch. The files were print-ready, but Nova’s team had used RGB images by mistake. Staples Printing caught it, converted the files, and still delivered on time. “That saved us,” David says. “We would have been reprinting at 2 a.m.”

Next, they moved all recurring print jobs to Staples Printing. The onboarding took about two weeks. Staples Printing trained two of Nova’s coordinators on the portal and provided a color guide. There were minor hiccups—like learning to use the correct paper weights—but the support line was responsive. “We never felt like we were bothering them,” David adds.

The real test came during a regional campaign for a beverage client. Nova needed 1,200 custom poster board printing units, 800 brochures, and 2,000 business cards—all within seven days. Staples Printing scheduled the runs, coordinated shipping to three countries, and delivered two days early. “That’s when we knew we had a partner, not just a vendor,” David says.

Quantitative Results and Metrics

The numbers tell a clear story. Before Staples Printing, average turnaround was 5–6 days. Now it’s 2–3 days for standard jobs, and 4 days for large custom orders. Waste from reprints dropped from around 12% to under 4%. Unit prices from Staples Printing were about 5% higher than the cheapest local option, but the reduction in waste and reprints more than made up for it. Print costs decreased by 18% overall, even with the same volume.

Color consistency improved. Measured by ΔE, their previous prints averaged 4.5 (visible difference). With Staples Printing, ΔE is now 1.8—well within the acceptable range for brand colors. Client complaints about print quality fell by 90% in the first six months. “We haven’t had a single reprint due to color in over a year,” David says.

The business impact goes beyond the print room. Nova Marketing has won three new clients who specifically mentioned their fast, reliable collateral. “When you can promise a client a 48-hour turnaround on brochures, you stand out,” David says. “Staples Printing made that possible.”

Looking back, David’s advice is simple: “Don’t just chase the lowest quote. Look at the total cost—waste, delays, your own time. For us, Staples Printing was the best decision we made for production.”