Hardware - Industrial Print

Publiman, based outside the picturesque town of Cenac in the Dordogne Valley region, is one of the two largest print service providers in the French long term scrolling banner market. The company’s 11 employees are all well trained to guarantee the smooth running of the business. This includes short turnaround times and ensuring it delivers jobs to the highest standards to its range of well-known customers, the likes of which include CBS, Clear Channel and JC Deceaux.

The company produces almost all of its work on a 3.5m Uvistar superwide format roll-to-roll UV device while a dedicated finishing department ensures the product is finished to the right specifications, ready to be delivered to the customer.

Daniel Mandart, founder and managing director of Publiman, explains the reason for focussing on the scrolling banner market: “Since the regulations for outdoor communications in France have changed with restrictions placed on the amount of billboards that can be erected, the market for scrolling banners has grown exponentially. With up to six advertisements that can be added to one scrolling banner at a time, the amount of banners to be printed adds up very quickly.”

In addition to running a successful printing business, the company also manufactures its own media – Polyman Paper – for scrolling billboard applications which is sold to print service providers across Europe. The unique environmentally friendly paper, which is coated by a polymer film with a polyester layer, has been proving so popular with billboard print service providers that Publiman has now created a second arm specifically dedicated to this part of the business.

Fuelling business with UV investment
Publiman had been using a NUR banner printer for a number of years, and with its business quickly expanding, it was keen to invest in a UV device to increase productivity.

Daniel explains how the company came to look into suitable printers: “After experiencing unexpected downtime with our solvent device a few months ago, we realised it was time we looked into investing in a new printer that could be complemented by the NUR. We work closely with Urbanstorm in the UK, and we mentioned that we were looking for a new device – they immediately suggested that we look at Fujifilm’s Uvistar.”

He continues: “We immediately contacted Fujifilm to discuss the Uvistar, but also investigated a number of other suitable devices on the market to ensure we chose the best device to suit our needs. One of the most important tests we carried out was assessing the level of diffusion and the ability to keep vibrant colours against a backlight, which are carried out in-house. The Uvistar matched our level of expectations brilliantly and was by far the best option for us.”

So, in June 2011, Publiman became the first French print service provider to install a Uvistar printer. The 3.5 meter roll-to-roll device has a configuration of 32 print-heads to allow for faster printing, while Fujifilm’s Uvijet QK inks ensure no curing or ink starvation issues, and excellent inter-coat lay down for backlit and solid prints.

“The installation went according to plan and our operators received in depth training and onsite support while getting to grips with the device. Since day one, we have been confident that we have made the right decision to choose the Uvistar and this continues to be the case,” says Daniel. “Our turnaround times are now shorter, which in turn has allowed us to take on more work from new customers referred to us from existing clients.”

Environmental benefits
Publiman places a great deal of effort into ensuring it minimises its environmental footprint. Investing in the Uvistar not only meant that the company could produce print at a much greater speed, but it also proved to have environmental benefits.

“The Uvistar also offers us environmental benefits – something we are very conscious of – by printing brilliantly onto polyethylene substrates and thereby minimising wastage,” says Daniel. “The short length of media needed to produce a scrolling banner means that the wastage can sometimes be huge, but the way the Uvistar is set up means we can reduce it down to the minimum.”

Further investments
The company has been so happy with the results it has achieved with the Uvistar that it decided to trial Fujifilm’s solvent inks on its NUR device. “We ran rigorous tests to see how the inks compared against what we were using before, and were delighted to achieve the same high quality but with better consistency. We therefore made the decision to switch to Fujifilm’s inks in September.”

Daniel concludes: “Publiman is proud to be the first French print service provider to invest in the Uvistar printer in France. Not only has the device allowed us to create new business opportunities, but also to stay on top with our service offering. The ongoing support we have received from Fujifilm during this investment process has been fantastic – we have seen the benefits of working with them from day one – and I am confident that this relationship will continue to blossom.”

The Uvistar is available in four different models, producing high quality output at throughput speeds in excess of 300m2/hour. A proven multi-roll system with a highly intuitive user interface, it provides fast and efficient start up with low media wastage, and has the ability to handle rolls of varying widths. In combination with Fujifilm’s new Uvijet QK inks, the printers can produce jobs on a very wide range of flexible media, including polyethylene (PE).

Josero has teamed up with its distributor Everything for Signs to promote the new Redjet 320K wide format printer.

On the Redjet 320K printer, Sandy Gray, managing director of Everything for Signs (EFS), comments, “I couldn’t believe that they could produce a 3.2m-wide solvent printer of this quality for the price. It breaks all current assumptions regarding the performance/price ratio on printers of this size. Specifically designed to print banners and building drapes, this machine can print up to 110 square metres per hour with an ink cost of under 50p per square metre. Having seen it working, I am amazed at the quality and delighted to promote it. At £29,950 it’s as close to a gift as you’re going to get in this industry.”

For more information, please visit www.everythingforsigns.co.uk

Oasis Graphic Company has made a substantial investment in new printing technology to position the company at the forefront of exhibition and event graphic production.  The 3.2-metre wide VUTEk GS3250 printer extends the company's printing capabilities with the highest image quality, fastest production speeds, and the best colour gamut.

Oasis managing director Simon Osborne explains, “This new printer is incredibly versatile and will allow us to undertake more high quality projects for a wider range of applications, including exhibition graphics, environment branding and retail and point-of-sale applications. It's been a long process, from shaking hands on the deal to moving it into its new home, but it's here and it's fantastic.”

In 2011, work commenced at the company's premises with the moving of a 10 m x 18 m wall by six metres to accommodate the new machine. While this was happening, the VUTEk left its home in Meredith USA and began the long six week journey across the Atlantic to the UK. Following installation, a week of commissioning commenced, including software install, configuration, colour profiling and operator training. The new VUTEk GS 3250 is now fully operational.

"This piece of kit truly is a phenomenal machine, its capabilities are enormous and has definitely improved the quality and speed of our direct print work. We're looking forward to acquiring a second one now,” added Osborne.

[photo shows VUTEk GS3250 printer]

TG Print & Design, a multi-service company based in Woolwich, south east London, has selected the :Anapurna Mw to develop its wide-format display business.  The :Anapurna Mw is a professional hybrid UV-printer designed to produce high quality wide-format output on a wide range of rigid and roll-to-roll media.

From a small start-up some 15 years ago with second-hand equipment, TG has steadily progressed under the guidance of its managing director, David Duhig. The company now has a turnover approaching £4 million and staff of 18 of which almost a third are on various trainee schemes. Duhig has placed a great deal of faith in developing the skills of locally recruited young people and it seems to have paid off.

The display business was really started using an Epson proofer followed by a Roland roll-to-roll printer. Duhig then realized the company needed a machine which printed faster and it was suggested by Art Centre that he should look at an :Anapurna. This lead to Agfa inviting him to go on a VIP trip to its HQ in Belgium. “I was very impressed with what I saw. The :Anapurna prints on a much wider variety of substrates and can handle rigid material up to 40 mm thick so the possibilities of expanding our services were much enhanced,” explained Duhig.

TG Print & Design has built up a reputation for printing A5 and A6 promotional flyers, 4-colour both sides and laminated. By producing reliable quality print and keeping its customers informed of other services on order confirmations and other correspondence, the business has developed mostly by word of mouth. As many customers choose to collect their print, samples of work are left in the reception area which provides an opportunity for them to see other examples of what the company offers, such a display banners and folders.

The company has forged several alliances, for example TG uses the :Anapurna Mw to print on glass, mirrors, wood, metal and plastic for a number of local firms. “The :Anapurna is an extremely versatile machine and Agfa is a highly professional company. I am sure we will be working with them for many years to come,” Duhig concluded.  

TG Print & Design is all about giving customers what they require at the best possible price. Customers keep on coming back and they even recommend TG to others. Jobs are either despatched via couriers or customers collect.

Over the past few years TG has re-invested almost 20% of its turnover in new equipment and services. The next step is to develop web-to-print business.

Polytype will launch its ground-breaking new wide-format digital ink-jet printing platform, the Virtu Quantum, which promises a blend of quality and speed hitherto unavailable in the marketplace, at drupa 2012. Now available in widths of 2.5m and 3.5m, the UV-curable machine incorporates high-definition 10pl print-heads, specially integrated by Polytype to produce 1,400dpi resolution for lush, rich images suited to a range of industrial and display applications.

The Virtu Quantum was vigorously tested over a period of months in a fully operational production environment after proof of concept was first demonstrated in 2011. Resultingly, the engine's speeds reach an impressive 300sq m/hour in production mode and 150-180sq m/hour in photographic mode, meaning that business owners no longer have to compromise between image quality and turnaround time when making large capital investments in wide-format machinery. Applicable to both roll-to-roll and flat-bed modes and across a range of both popular and unusual media, the versatility afforded owners is a distinct advantage in the current, extremely competitive climate.

Polytype's dedication to accuracy means that customers ordering at the show can have total confidence in the feasibility of the system, and be able to integrate it effortlessly to upgrade their current production processes. The new Quantum series will allow even more depth and colour gamut for the accurate reproduction of typically difficult images, such as skin tones and sought-after brand shades – but at productivity speeds that will challenge even billboard quality modes from rival manufacturers.

“Polytype does what other manufacturers dare not do: we will drive a new machine hard in an actual working situation to make sure that we are aware of all of its capabilities,” explains Sylvia Muhr, sales and marketing director for Polytype's Virtu Business Unit. “In doing so, we have fine-tuned the Virtu Quantum to deliver an unparalleled combination of speed and quality in its machine category, and visitors to our stand at drupa 2012 will be amongst the first to witness it match its full potential.”

Polytype's wide-format technologies are renowned in the marketplace for their exceptional build quality and ability to output with finesse of graduation and detail on innumerable substrates, and have won multiple awards from within the printing industry and in related sectors, such as design. The company's experience ranges from display applications to highly industrial work, with the Virtu Quantum able to sit as the core element in a glass production workflow; significantly, Polytype consults with each customer to ensure that every machine is tuned to their precise specifications, ensuring maximum return on investment for users.

Stewart Bell, Managing Director of Digital Print Innovations Ltd (DPI), UK distributor for Polytype Virtu Printers, will be at drupa and is looking forward to welcoming UK and Ireland customers to the Polytype stand for the launch.  “The launch of the new Virtu Quantum is very exciting news for DPI and our customers and I am really looking forward to being at the launch and demonstrating the new machine at drupa in Dusseldorf this year. Polytype is renowned in the marketplace for its exceptional Swiss build quality and its ability to deliver outstanding and consistent results at speed. The new Virtu Quantum is perfectly positioned for companies wishing to invest in the latest technology and wanting a printer made to exact standards and specifications to suit their growing needs."

For more information, please visit www.polytype.com

[photo caption: The Virtu Quantum has been developed with typical Swiss precision and promises exceptionally high-quality output at impressive speeds on a vast range of media]

EFI has announced the commercial availability of the EFI VUTEk TX3250r fabric printer which enables customers to take advantage of the demands and requirements of the growing soft signage markets. The VUTEk TX3250r printer is a new 3.2-metre, production-level solution that evolved from the first EFI industrial inkjet textile system, the VUTEk FabriVu, introduced in 2002.

An early adopter for the VUTEk TX3250r, Indy Imaging of Indianapolis, already had two VUTEk GS3200 hybrid printers. According to Robbie Gordon, president, “In our market, it’s about reliability, quality and turnaround, and all of that must happen consistently. Our customers have noticed differences in all three areas. What used to take us hours now takes minutes, and the quality that was not there at 300 dpi with other printers, is abundantly there at 1080 dpi on the new VUTEk TX3250r. The speed and quality of this new printer outpaces the competition. We can now print 10-foot wide banners with no seams, opening up another market for larger sizes in flags and banners."

With the ability to print direct to textile and transfer paper, the VUTEk TX3250r is an ideal solution for users looking to grow their soft signage business with a production-level printer, or to diversify their offering by converting traditional vinyl signage to a product with lower shipping costs, a greener footprint, easier installation and higher margins.

“The introduction of the TX3250r should help eliminate the soft signage cost barrier for our customers and enable them to capture the market for soft signage, and flags” said Scott Schinlever, senior vice president and general manager of Inkjet Solutions at EFI. “One benefit is the ability to print on textiles, opening new markets for customers while expanding existing capabilities. EFI also focused on exceeding customer expectations for quality and reliability, as we did with the revolutionary FabriVu production quality textile printer that was launched nine years ago.”

The VUTEk TX3250r uses dye sublimation technology to dye, or sublimate, fabric fibres directly, so the fabric retains the same drape and soft hand customers prefer. This method achieves brighter colours than other textile printing methods and the final product is odourless. In addition, the TX3250r enables printing on polyester, which is a non-PVC material that is considered more eco-friendly than vinyl. Final printed images produced on the TX3250r can be washed, dried, folded without leaving marks and reused.

EFI VUTEk TX3250r features:

• New, fast-drying inks for unparalleled speed up to 1800 ft2 / hour (167 m2 / hour)
• High-resolution, 8-colour print capability for high-margin printed displays and high-density backlit signs
• Fast-4 (CMYK) production speed for high-volume flag and banner jobs
• Direct to textile or indirect via transfer printing process, so users can offer more materials.

For more information on the VUTEk TX3250r soft signage printer and EFI, please visit www.efi.com