What Leadership Means To Melbourne Printer Complete Colour

Leadership is a word that is regularly bandied about. After almost 30 years in business, here’s what it means to Complete Colour, across the three things that really matter to us:

1. People

2. Printing

3. Planet

Why Our People Are The No.1 Focus

When we talk about ‘our people’, internally or externally, we don’t just mean the Complete Colour team, or our clients, or our supply, logistics or charity partners. We consider all of the people that our work impacts. But when it comes to leadership, we direct our focus where we think we can have the biggest and most immediate impact:

1. Happiness

2. Health

3. Safety

The happiness of the people we work with; staff, clients and partners, is paramount. There is no doubt that the global pandemic, and other recent world events, have presented challenges to happiness – and mental and physical health – as we strive to acclimatise to a different way of living.

But we can still easily check in on a colleague, on a supply or logistics partner, a client, a neighbouring business or the wider business community (which also helps us to stay connected to knowledge and networking outside of our own business bubble). A simple text message, phone call – or even a ‘like’ or comment on social media can go a long way.

Director Geoff Lawyer and Client Services Coordinator Adam Keating support National Red Nose Day with red and white polkadot socks

Complete Director Geoff Lawyer prioritises fresh air and conversation on a daily basis: “We’ve done plenty of walking client meetings,” he says.

“And I go on a socially distanced walk with one staff member every day I am at the office. It has been most valuable to me to find out how our staff are. Most are grateful to come to work and have an outlet to be a touch more social than in the confines of their home.”

The nature of an Australian print business is that most of the staff cannot work from home, so walking meetings have become part of the daily routine. We still conduct socially distanced face-to-face meetings, and communicate via in-person toolbox meetings or COVID Update meetings, which have become regular calendar appointments.

Cutting Edge Print

Our Cheltenham print floor is a large, light space, with high ceilings and great airflow. And in July 2020 we installed thermal imaging and facial recognition cameras to monitor physical health, and to keep employees and guests safe.

The thermal imaging camera is just one example of how we use technology to keep our staff safe. Cutting edge technology on the print floor not only means that we can ensure the very best output, it also keeps our staff as safe as possible.

We prioritise new technology and machinery – and the rigorous training that goes with it. In 2020, we invested in the top of class Xerox iGen 5 Digital Printing Press. The machine provides us with the ability to deliver higher volume digital print runs to customers, so that we can pass on savings from economies of scale to the customer. It also presents greater security in assurity of supply in these uncertain times. And it enables us to deliver high quality, large volume output in very competitive turnaround times whether we’re printing books, manuals, magazines or menus.

More recently, we have upgraded our proofing devices to include the latest state-of-the-art Spectrophotometer, which enables us to continuously monitor our proofing devices so they do not go out of Colour Management Specifications.

We have also upgraded our Heidelberg Image Control from Series 1 to Series 2, with a lot more features and functionality. This goes hand-in-glove with our new prepress software, Prinect Production Manager. It provides us with online and interactive proofing functionally, and a production module.

Heidelberg Image Control Series 2

We passed another audit with flying colours late last year – in ISO 9001 (Quality) and ISO 14001 (Environment) – certifying us as a trusted print manufacturer.

Environmentally responsible printing

We’re proud to be a leading sustainable Victorian print company, with environmentally responsible policies and procedures that mean we always choose the path of lowest impact to outstanding quality. It also means that our offices and print floor are 100% powered by renewable energy sources – either from our own 200Kw LGC* (728-panel) rooftop solar farm, or from GreenPower on days when we can’t generate enough electricity. We run an eco-recycling solvent tank recovery system, we use vegetable-based ink and we only purchase paper that is sourced from well-managed forests certified to a credible standard.

As Complete Colour approaches 30 years in business, we are extremely proud to be positioned as a leader in those things that really matter to us; people, printing and the planet. Our systems and processes are all geared towards these considerations across everything we do – with quality, value, service and trust.

This is what Complete leadership means to us.

Complete is part of the STK Business Club and we are a proud supporter of St Kilda Football Club.