The world’s first Screen Truepress Jet W1632UV flatbed inkjet printer has been installed at UK large format POS specialist Best Digital.
Best saw and ordered the Truepress Jet W1632UV at drupa in a £500,000 two-machine deal that also included a 2.5 metre wide Truepress Jet 2500UV hybrid flatbed/roll printer. The investment is expected to treble capacity and double turnover to £3 million by 2014 as the company expands into new markets with new products.
Best was founded in 2008 by Geoff Rawlings and Danny Colegate. Sales for 2012 are on target for £1.2 million, generated by POS, exhibition and display graphics for leading brands. The company employs 12 staff at its 10,000 square foot premises in Welwyn Garden City, where it moved last year.
Mr Rawlings (seen above left, with Screen’s vp of sales Bui Burke) describes Best’s market position as ‘in the niche between small digital companies with print and mount facilities and the major POS suppliers.’
The company operates a variety of digital printers, including solvent- and dye based machines. The new Truepress Jet W1632UV and Truepress Jet 2500 have replaced two Zund Combi UV units, said Mr Rawlings. ‘The quality of the work coming off the Combis was fine, but we needed to produce it faster, so we started looking to increase our firepower.’
But finding the combination of speed and quality needed proved elusive, he found: ‘The machines on the market were either beyond our budget or fell short on speed or quality – until we saw the Truepress Jet W1632UV, that is.’
The Truepress Jet W1632UV prints at 94 square metres top speed per hour on media up to 1600 x 3200 mm with a maximum thickness of 48 mm. Its 12-picolitre micro-droplet printheads allow well defined text and smooth vignettes, while a maximum apparent resolution of 1200 dpi gives photographic quality. The machine features Screen’s proprietary inks and comes with six colours (CMYKLcLm) as standard.
To target larger jobs and provide backup, Best wanted a two-machine investment, so the Truepress Jet 2500UV was chosen as a partner for the W1632UV. ‘The combination gives us enormous versatility as well as a trebling in capacity compared to the Zund Combis,’ Mr Rawlings said. ‘The Truepress Jet 2500UV is also fast and produces high quality work, has the unique ability to print seven layers and features a roll-to-roll option. Because both machines use the same inks, so we can keep colour consistent when we split jobs between the two.
‘These machines take us into the next generation of large-format digital printing. Without sacrificing valuable floorspace, we can produce more print, in more sophisticated formats and longer runs.’
Contact: www.screeneurope.com
