Electronics For Imaging, Inc. has announced today that the Oberuzwil, Switzerland-based advertising technology company Historika AG will install an EFI VUTEk LX3 Pro production-level LED printer. The company replaced a previously installed printer with the higher-productivity hybrid roll/flatbed EFI model, which was showcased at FESPA in Hamburg this year.
The VUTEk LX3 Pro printer gives Historika a high-quality, versatile production option that creates more opportunities compared with what the company would get with a stand-alone roll-to-roll or flatbed inkjet device.
Historika Chief Operating Officer and Co-owner Daniel Harzenmoser tested production printers from three leading suppliers last year. Frank Tulke, an executive with material supplier vendor Igepa Adoc AG, pointed out the EFI VUTEk printer to him and invited him to visit the EFI demonstration centre in Brussels. "I was surprised by its size and the many different models I saw," said Harzenmoser."What impressed me most was the professionalism of the technicians and vendors."
Harzenmoser brought along test files and had sent media for testing, something he had also done to test other machines on the market. "The EFI team had the VUTEk LX3 Pro print at high production speeds for us and I was impressed by the top quality of the images in roll-fed and flatbed printing modes, and at such an incredible speed," he said.
Quality, speed and flexibility are key features needed to be successful in the company's competitive local market, and Historika's new installation delivers on all three. The printer achieves its high quality through true 1000 dpi resolution with 12-picolitre greyscale printheads.
With a width of 320 cm and hybrid capabilities for roll-to-roll and flatbed printing, Historika's new production printer is the same size as the machine the company has previously been using, but it offers much higher throughput with much greater versatility.
"Depending on the job, we can now print three to four times faster and get much better image quality," said Harzenmoser. "The wide EFI product range on the market has made me feel very positive about the future."
Silvio Schärer, Historika's Production Manager for studio and digital printing, was impressed with training provided at EFI's headquarters in Brussels, and with the competently trained service technician from Igepa Adoc AG. He was also impressed with the EFI Fiery® proServer Premium digital front end system that Historika will use to manage its production workflow for the new printer.
"Controlling the printer through the Command WorkStation on the Fiery proServer Premium is just as easy as operating the printer itself," Schärer explained. He plans to have adapted the profiles of all materials used with the previous machine to the VUTEk LX3 Pro by the end of May, after which the old machine will be dismantled to make room for the new VUTEk LX3 Pro.
