Scand-Media successfully delivers first print job to HQ of Japanese Institution

"Scand-Media can turn the impossible into the possible!" exclaimed Ms. Rina Hirano of the Natural Resources and Ecosystem Services, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), Japan, when Scand-Media delivered an improved version of the first printing job, that her organisation granted Scand-Media to work on.

"The booklet looks wonderful. I showed it to my boss and he was impressed with your work and your service as well,” said Ms. Rina Hirano of the Natural Resources and Ecosystem Services, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), Japan.

Scand-Media has been serving IGES in Thailand since 2012, fulfilling the Institute’s design, layout and printing needs, but had never – until recently – had the opportunity to serve IGES HQ in Japan. The cooperation started after the Head Quarters saw the printing materials that IGES Thailand sent them. They were impressed not only by the quality of the design and printing, they were also impressed by the standard of service. 

Ms. Rina Hirano of IGES HQ contacted Scand-Media asking for a quotation for the production of a booklet with an edition of 200 copies to be shipped to Japan, just for price comparison. 

Ms. Hirano had sent a file that she called 'FINAL', but when Scand-Media scrutinized the artwork the close inspection revealed a number of mistakes such as line cutting, pictures at low resolution, and graphs and tables appearing unprofessionally.

Patcharee Lae-ya West, Marketing Director of Scand-Media decided to risk telling the client of her findings, although she was not sure if it would be appreciated.

“I decided that the best course of action for the client would be that I informed them about the file, and – as a consultant and friend – give them our candid assessment of the material,” Khun Patcharee says.

“I sincerely informed Khun Rina that if she printed this file, the booklet would be of low quality, with graphs not sharp, confused tables and pictures of low resolution. Further to the email, I also called on her to ensure that she understood what I had written, as I wasn’t sure about her English and I didn’t want any miscommunication, especially in regards to something so important.”

Fortunately, Ms. Rina Hirano’s manager allowed Scand-Media to adjust the design and layout for them. She added, that this was the first time he had allowed foreigners to create the design for one of their publications. 

“Khun Rina agreed to the price for the design, production and shipment, which made our team very happy, as this would be a good start for Scand-Media to work with our new client,” says Khun Patcharee.

“Our Art Director Wuttinan Na Ayuttaya, Marketing Executive Khun Siwaporn Kosanlawit and I had a meeting about what we needed to do and how to finish the booklet within two weeks, including shipment. Fortunately, Khun Siwaporn found a solution by using a door-to-door shipment service, which only takes five days from Bangkok to Japan.” 

Khun Wuttinan reviewed the IGES HQ website and learnt from their design, adjusting his work to match their style; and the client agreed to print the first draft right away. The feedback was great. They liked the pictures and thought the layout was clean and creative.

“When it came to printing, I decided to print with Print on Demand as the price was similar to offset and so was the quality, but it was faster – only taking four working days – and then we shipped it to Japan the day after printing was complete,” Khun Patcharee explains.

“We followed up with Khun Rina every day via email, then, three days later, I called to let her know that the booklet had already arrived in Japan and would arrive at her office within hours – and it arrived exactly at the time I informed her it would.”

At present, Scand-Media is working on more projects for IGES HQ in Japan, and a great deal of other publication projects for IGES in Thailand too.

Patcharee Lae-ya West says the success was due to the excellent team work.

“My thank goes to the team for all their creativity, team spirit, positive thinking and good organization. Without the team the job would never have been a success,” she says.

Client Reference: 

Ms. Rina Hirano
Natural Resources and Ecosystem Services Area
Institute for Global Environmental Strategies
2108-11 Kamiyamaguchi
Hayama, Kanagawa
240-0115 Japan

Tel:+81-46-855-3854
Fax:+81-46-855-3809
E-mail: hirano@iges.or.jp

Website: http://www.iges.or.jp/en/