Ebbsfleet Printing Solutions has installed a Fujifilm Acuity Prime flatbed printer, which was installed at its Gravesend premises in January of this year. The company purchased from the printer RA Smart, which was appointed as the first UK partner for the Acuity Prime late last year.

The Acuity Prime prints at speeds of up to 150sqm/hr on both flexible and rigid media and it boasts an LED curing system that is immediately ready for use in standby mode. It can be configured with either four, five, six, or seven colour channels, each of which is populated with ink sets that best suit the user’s application needs, including CMYK, white, clear and a jettable primer.

The team at Ebbsfleet opted for the flatbed after an initial video demonstration and then a visit to Fujifilm’s facility in Broadstairs for a live demonstration. Director Sam Cherry said that the quality of print produced during both demos proved to his satisfaction that ‘the Acuity Prime is by far the best printer of its kind.’

‘We almost didn’t believe what we were seeing,’ Mr Cherry said. ‘The printer performed beyond our expectations, but as it’s a new printer to the market we felt it was necessary to go and take a closer look. We liked what we saw, and we placed our order whilst there at Fujifilm’s facility in Broadstairs.

‘It’s our belief that the Acuity Prime flatbed performs at a level above any other printer within its price point. In fact, the other machines we considered that offered this level of print productivity were typically double the price. I don’t believe there is any better way we could have spent this amount of money in terms of the overall quality, print capability and production capacity we’ve just added to our business with the Acuity Prime.’

Mr Cherry went on to confirm that the new printer has already had a big impact on operations. ‘Securing the printer means that we can provide a better service to our customers, being able to meet their deadlines in a world where time is of the essence. We can provide a more streamlined approach along with a great end product.

‘We were looking for a more efficient solution; something that could reduce the time it takes to print whilst saving money. We’ve only been using the printer for a week or two and are really impressed with the output; we’ve already used it to print on Acrylic, Foamex and Dibond.’