Hardware

 

Gerber Scientific Products unveiled its new M Turbo high-powered cutter/router at the recent trade show in SGIA New Orleans.

The M Turbo is a new and more powerful version of the reliable M 3000 cutting system, part of Gerber's M Series of flatbed finishing tables. The M Turbo has the same proven features as the rest of the M Series machines, but offers a stronger, faster one kilowatt router. Visitors to the Gerber booth at the recent PRINT 09 Chicago show and the 2009 SGIA Expo in New Orleans were surprised by the new capabilities offered with the new M Turbo.

"We are very pleased with the response the new Gerber M Turbo received at the shows. Graphic industry veterans know what a great asset the higher-powered one kilowatt router can be for their business, since it allows them to perform a wider variety of jobs and perform them faster, especially the ability to rout metal," said Steve Albert, senior strategic accounts manager, Gerber.

Another attractive feature of the M Turbo is its reasonably priced turnkey system. "Show attendees were pleased to learn the M Turbo is priced lower than comparable systems. The attractive price of the M Turbo includes everything needed to get started. Instead of pricing the way competitors do, advertising a base price that includes only the table and then up-selling the customer for all the other elements they need, Gerber gives one price point for the entire, ready-to-use system," said Albert.

The Gerber M Turbo's turnkey system includes the cutting table, modular cutting head, M Vision optical registration system for print-to cut applications, OMEGA software, a PC, reciprocating and tangential knife tools, the 1 kw electric router tool, a starter kit of knife blades and router bits and even a one year comprehensive warranty. It's the perfect system for any business in the industry who wants a powerful router at a great price.

Print-Division, located in Maribor, Slovenia, has recently installed the world’s first production Rho 800 HS (High Speed) large format, UV inkjet printer. This is the fifth Rho UV inkjet in use by the company, which has three Rho 160’s and a Rho 600 Pictor. The Rho 800 HS was purchased to replace their existing Rho 205, which had served them well for three and a half years.

Mr. Zoran Marković, Managing Director of Print-Division, said: “What we needed now was a very fast, high production machine and the Rho 800 HS was the ideal choice. We first saw it at FESPA in May this year and made the decision to purchase it immediately.”     

“Over the years our salespeople have been getting much larger orders and, particularly in the retail market, delivery times have been getting shorter. So, to be able to satisfy this demand for high volume, high quality print, we had to look to investing in new equipment. The Rho 800 HS had only been installed for a few days, and already we were greatly impressed by both its speed and quality of print.”

The Rho 800 HS is housed in the company’s new 7,500m² premises that will eventually hold all their production and warehousing needs.

Print-Division was founded 22 years ago as a photographic lab and retailer. The business grew rapidly into a large and successful chain of photographic retail outlets and photo labs. They first ventured into large format digital printing about 12 years ago with a Durst Lambda and soon the company wanted to expand into other large format digital print areas. Today, both the photographic and printing businesses trade as successful independent companies.

The company employs 44 personnel and offers a complete digital print service through to finishing and delivery of the widest range of roll and rigid materials, from textiles and vinyl to Foamex and corrugated board, both for indoor and outdoor applications. Their customers include all the major Slovenian retail chains and major brand names such as BMW and Coca Cola across the country. They also export a large volume of print to Austria and Germany.

They see the purchase of the Rho 800 HS as a major step towards automated production of instore displays. “We intend to purchase an automatic cutting table in the near future to link in with the Rho,” said Marković. “We want to make the production of corrugated display material a continuous process. Not only is the Rho exceptionally fast, it also produces very high quality print and this is particularly important for in-store retail displays. We have the six colour option of additional light colours so flesh tones etc. are perfect.”    

Michael Lackner, Marketing Manager of Durst said, “We’ve incorporated our latest imaging, workflow and operational technologies into a proven production imaging platform to create the Rho 800 HS printer. Users can complete a wide array of print jobs faster and far more cost-effectively – which improves their operations, their ability to say yes to their customers, and their profits.  We’re pleased but not surprised that Print-Division is having such a positive experience with its new Rho 800 HS.”

The 250 cm-wide Rho 800 HS features “continuous board printing” and comes equipped with the latest development of Durst’s own Quadro® 30D Array print head technology with double the number of nozzles per colour of 2,048 which effectively almost doubles its output speed over the standard Rho 800 Presto.

The Rho 800HS prints on multiple narrow boards across its total 250 cm width, on materials up to 70mm thick, at a top speed of more than 216 sheets/hour (125 x 80cm/4 x 2.6ft.).  In productive two-pass mode, it delivers exceptional image quality at 110 sheets/hour (125 x 80cm/ 4 x 2.6ft.).  The Rho 800 HS also is compatible with Durst’s roll feed / take-up accessory, designed for long runs and fast media changes.  It handles oversized rolls up to 200kg, diameters up to 30 cm and widths up to 250 cm. and with Durst providing the highest reliability in the market, users can rely on 24/7 production.

HP today announced that Fair-play BV, of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, has installed an HP Scitex FB6100 Printer, a versatile flatbed printer which uses UV curable ink and easily converts from rigid to roll-fed applications.

The new machine joins Fair-play's existing range of digital printers, including an HP Scitex FB7500 Printer and an HP Scitex XP2700 Printer.

"The latest HP Scitex FB6100 Printer will perfectly complement our existing portfolio," said Pieter Oorthuizen of Fair-play. "While our new HP Scitex FB7500 Printer is perfect for longer runs, this new printer will allow us to cater for high quality one-offs, trials and very short-runs.

"We have built our reputation on delivering products of the highest possible quality. The printer's ability to print white ink means we will be able to achieve high colour fidelity on transparent and coloured media," noted Oorthuizen.

Equipped with one of the largest flatbed imaging areas available, the HP Scitex FB6100 Printer delivers an exceptionally high print quality with displays that achieve greater colour density and application versatility. Additionally, the fast-drying UV curable inks offer vivid colours, a wide colour gamut and a print resolution of up to 1,270 by 800 dpi on both rigid and roll-fed media.

"Being able to achieve eight-colour printing at speeds up to 50 m²/hr will ensure our clients' exhibition and display graphics are turned around quickly and are the most eye-catching on show," concluded Oorthuizen.

Fair-play employs thirteen people and carries out work for several high-profile customers in The Netherlands and Belgium.

The industry is buzzing about the new HP Designjet L25500 42" and 60" wide latex ink printers, and LFR are delighted to bring you the first ever case study, from tot.rètol, the Barcelona based printer that ran ran the new latexx Designjet as part of the HP beta-testing program.

 

The year 2009 marked twenty years of business for tot.rètol, a sign printing shop based in Igualada, outside Barcelona in Spain. Joan Torrents, General Manager and owner, has successfully exploited his business experience and know-how as a printing professional to steer tot. rètol through the economic downturn that came with the credit crisis, perhaps the most challenging period since tot.rètol started business in 1989. tot.rètol use “hard” solvent printing technology, a term commonly used among printing business professionals to distinguish it from eco-solvent printing technology. They print on PVC, banner and transparent vinyl for tradeshows banners, point of sale displays and outdoor store signs.

Eliminating outsourcing to double profit margins

Joan Torrents describes the business scenario that drove them to explore alternative printing technology to solvent-ink printing. “tot.rètol until recently was a solvent-only technology sign making business. Our solvent printers were adequate for our standard signage orders but customer orders sometimes include a portion of prints demanding higher quality. To ensure a single supplier solution and achieve greater customer loyalty we satisfied all their needs by outsourcing what we couldn’t print on solvent. The problem is our profit margins were halved when we outsourced. The second problem is that reduced profit margins meant we could not compete for jobs that demanded only, or principally, high image quality. Also, turnaround times can double with outsourcing, excluding tot.rètol from competing for business with tight deadlines,” states Joan, concluding, ”The economic crisis meant print volumes from core solvent-ink applications were down 40%. The HP Designjet L25500 Printer has allowed us to expand our applications and products and still serve our core business for robust, durable output. We are seeing our printing volumes grow strongly and we believe we can still do much more.”

Making new profits

Joan Torrents explains how the HP Designjet L25500 Printer allowed tot.rètol to successfully compete for new business. “We recently bid for a high image quality job that demanded 150 sq meters (492 sq ft) of in-store signage up to 2 x 4 m (6.6 x 13.1 ft) on vinyl. The viewing distance was short so our solvent printer was not an option due to the low image quality it offers and possible banding. It was an important opportunity as the job was for an advertising agency - an ideal customer in terms of return business. By using the HP Designjet L25500 Printer, as opposed to outsourcing, we were able to make an extremely competitive offer to acquire the new agency as a customer and still make a profit. Delivery time was halved from 6 days to 3 by printing in-house. Without in-house printing it is very unlikely that we could have beaten the competition to win the job. The customer was satisfied with our printing service and we have become their first choice supplier,” Joan states.

Versatility offers more sellable applications

Joan believes printed output with a lower environmental impact will give them an extra competitive edge for certain applications. “Printed output using solvent inks may be perceived as unsuitable in certain types of activities, particularly those widely used by the public. The health service sector, restaurants, fresh food stores or kids’ toy shops are a few examples where environmental health and safety are of paramount importance. Printed displays in these “sensitive” environments represent an ideal application for Latex output from the HP Designjet L25500.”

HP Latex Printing Technology represents a no-compromise alternative over tot.rètol’s solvent ink technology. “A regular client requested some attractive 60 x 60 sq cm (23 x 23 sq in) coffee table tops for their outdoor terrace bar. Output needed to be tough and weather resistant. In the past we would have used our solvent printer and then laminated the output. We printed the job on white vinyl at a higher quality and more quickly on our new HP Latex printer and laminated output to avoid scratching,” Joan says delightedly.

Innovation without complication

As a new, unfamiliar technology to tot.rètol, any initial concerns they had about its implementation were soon dispelled. “Our operator has lots of experience with large format solvent and the HP Designjet L25500 Printer was extremely easy to manage in comparison. It was very, very easy to learn without any special training. Media loading is easy even on your own. It is very clean and maintenance is automated. The printer adopts convenient, user-replaceable cartridges instead of the bottles and tubes used for solvent. You have to be careful not to leave marks with solvent,” Joan says, adding, “The print speed is great and prints are dry when they come off the printer so you can finish and laminate immediately. Ink usage is more efficient than solvent – up to 30% less per square meter. To avoid clogging, solvent technology has bigger printheads and regular cleaning and purging is required. Solvent ink is not absorbed so well on certain types of media. We’ve noticed poor adhesion on Backlit media so ink can run and print results are less reliable,” Joan claims. The embedded spectrophotometer and advanced close loop color calibration are highly appreciated. “You get reliable results on any media you need to use. Automatic color calibration and creation of ICC profiles is easy,” Joan adds, concluding, “Although this technology was new to us, HP is a prestigious brand with reliable, quality products and HP has offered us a qualified and professional post sales service whenever we have needed it. That gives you peace of mind.”

Challenges:

• Grow printing business by offering new products and applications while continuing to supply the robust output demanded for its core business applications
• Eliminate outsourcing to save 2-3,000 Euro/ month and increase profit margins by 50%
• Offer printed output with lower environmental impact in “sensitive” environments

Solutions:

• HP Designjet L25500 Printer using HP Latex Inks and HP Embedded Spectrophotometer with Advanced Close Loop Colour Calibration

Results:

• Versatility from single printing solution to successfully compete for higher image quality business to grow revenue streams while still serving established customer demands
• Profit margins on outsourced printing increased by 50% by bringing printing in-house
• Increased customer satisfaction, faster turnaround and higher quality signage
• Sell HP Latex printed output for “sensitive” environment applications such as health service sector, restaurants, fresh food stores or kids’ toy shops

 

London-based City & West End Solutions (CWES) have launched their new website, and announce Demo Days on the new HP Designjet L25500 latex printer.

CWES are 'the No.1 HP large-format reseller', qualifying them for the prestigious HP Gold Preferred Partner programme. This is a status reserved for only the best performing HP large format resellers.

The new CWES website features a number of business tools, including their HP Profit Calculator - interactive tools that accurately illustrate the typical profit levels that can be achieved with an HP printer.

The Profit Calculator covers all models from Designjet Z6100 through to the Designjet L65500 latex, and the full range of HP commercial UV flatbeds. Calculators for the the latest HP L25500 42" and 60" latex printers will also be added imminently.

In terms of these new HP latex machines, CWES are also pleased to announce Demo-Days, which can be booked online now on their new website.

Why book your HP DesignJet L25500 Demo with CWES?

• CWES are the HP Reseller with the most Latex experience in the UK as we have installed more HP Designjet L65500's than anyone else.
• CWES are the ONLY HP Reseller in the UK with HP technically trained engineers.
• CWES are the first HP Gold Preferred Partner to have the L25500 for in-house demo in the UK.

Key Features / Benefits of the new HP Designjet L25500:

• User-replaceable printheads - Less intervention for changing printheads avoids delays and improves your turnaround time.
• Included take-up reel - Print unattended runs overnight on long media rolls with the media take-up reel.
• Dry right out of the printer - Improve your turnaround time with prints that are dry and ready immediately
• Media sensor & drop detector - Achieve high image quality & consistency with the optical media sensor & drop detector.
• HP double swath technology - Staggered printheads resulting in twice the performance of earlier Designjet models.
• Embedded web server - Control print settings and monitor ink and media usage via the embedded Web server.
• HP latex inks - Produce outdoor signage with durability comparable to eco-solvent inks.
• Wide range of media - Including coated media or polyester fabric and low-cost papers without treatments.

CWES recommends the HP Designjet L25500 as an environmentally-friendly inkjet printer

• Water-based HP Latex Inks - no hazard warning labels, no HAPs
• No special ventilation required
• Prints odourless signs
• Range of recyclable HP media available, with take-back program
• ENERGY STAR qualified
• Click here for CWES Environmental Policy

To find out more, book a demonstration and access the CWES Profit Calculator tools, visit their new website at http://www.cwesolutions.co.uk

Be one of the first to see the new HP Designjet L25500 in action, at an i-Sub Digital Open Day.

Open Days will be scheduled throughout October and November 2009, where you can see the new HP Designjet L25500 latex printer being put through its paces.

With limited places available, and high demand expected, users are being encouraged to book quickly by calling i-Sub Digital on Tel: 01536 415511 or by email to openday@i-subdigital.com to discuss available venues, dates and times.

HP Designjet L25500 latex printers, from iSub Digital...

The new benchmark has been set: The HP Designjet L25500 sets a whole new benchmark for the wide format print professional. Durable high quality output, printed with the environment in mind, using HP latex ink technology that is cleaner and greener.
The quality you expect from an HP: Vibrant colour at 1200dpi display print quality, with output that is instantly dry off the printer, for greater productivity and profit potential.
Outdoor durability without the compromise: Signage and even vehicle wraps, with print durability that is comparable to eco-solvent printers, without any of the environmental concerns associated with solvent inks.
 
Also Showing - HP Designjet L65000

Attend one of our Open Days and you'll also have the opportunity to see the HP Designjet L65500 commercial latex printer in action.

To book your place...

Open Day places can be booked by calling i-Sub Digital on Tel: 01536 415511 or contact them by email at openday@i-subdigital.com

You can also visit the i-Sub Digital website at www.i-subdigital.com