Printing House Hoekstra has a rich history. Since 1859, the printing company can be found in Sint Annaparochie, a small Frisian village in the north of the Netherlands. In 2009 the company celebrated its 150th anniversary and received the title of Royal Warrant Holder. Ynze Hoekstra is the sixth generation at the helm. With him, the family business has grown into a total range of printed matter, specializing in packaging and inserts. Since January 2020, they also do this as online sales with a white label webshop by Prindustry.
Client
Printing house Hoekstra
Year
2015
Techniques
WhiteLabelShop
Wide range from Friesland
At the printing house they do not want to limit themselves to traditional printing. They also supply special printing and packaging. “We have grown naturally towards this broader offering,” explains Ynze. “We have been responsible for the layout for packaging for years. At a certain point we decided to print this ourselves. Packaging is a very beautiful product and we now take care of this from design to special finishes such as with foil, embossing and UV-lacquer in gloss or matt. It’s a good industry to be in. More than half of our production is now for packaging.” Ynze prefers to do this production in its own printing house as much as possible. “As I can run production, it is the shortest route for the customer. That speed is simply important. Of course that is not the only thing to consider. We have a good relationship with our customers and the goodwill factor is also a valuable factor. This is achieved by being reliable and qualitative.”
Also a total supplier online
Ynze also wanted to bring the wide spectrum of printed matter online. “Ultimately, this is part of a future-proof company. We see a webshop as an extension. Without it we will continue to run, but it adds just that little bit of added value to our printing company, which makes it even easier to manage and order printed matter. We chose IT partner Prindustry, because they unite all the disciplines we wanted in a webshop. At the moment we are gradually adding articles to the range of the webshop. We are going to put the entire range of printed matter in the webshop. From bags to packaging, complete with personalization by means of an integrated editor. The customer wants to be unburdened. For that you have to be a total supplier and offer everything.”
Automated dedication
The order process of printed matter has many product options and therefore the process behind a print webshop must be very carefully coordinated. “There are four colleagues who are dedicated and regularly working on the webshop. You have to, if you want to market the shop competitively. We want to continue to roll out the online domain. For example, we are going to set up a special service for funeral cards. Funeral cards and letters always have priority in the printing process. They are sent by express service. You can choose a mourning card 24/7 in the webshop at any time of the day or make it yourself using the design tool. Templates for the funeral cards are available, but you can also upload your own files. The ordering process is fully automated. That is useful for the customer and for us. We don’t have to be available live on Sunday morning for this.”
A broad view
Ynze does not only apply the broad outlook for the company. Although the next generation is ready to get started in the family business, Ynze advises his children to take a broader view of the world. “It’s a very nice industry to work in, but that can also be done in other ways than as an entrepreneur. It is good to have different experiences.” Ynze will in any case continue to explore new possibilities for Printing House Hoekstra. “We are in good shape and will continue to develop!”
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