Hardware - Industrial Print

HP today announced that Rotherham based Bluetree Design & Print Ltd., is using its newly installed HP Scitex FB7500 Printer to expand into wide-format variable data printing (VDP) and win new business.

The large format, traditional screen print specialist, is currently pioneering the use of variable data in wide-format printing, using its HP Scitex FB7500 Printer and HP SmartStream Designer. The combined HP system enables it to create customised applications such as versioned posters; point of purchase and point of sale displays; exhibition graphics; signage and backlit displays.

The company will utilise its new digital capabilities to extend its services and win business. One such service Bluetree will introduce is a cost-effective, high-quality, short-run digital printing service for smaller retailers. This service will enable local retailers to create professional quality, wide-format marketing collateral, that will allow them to compete with more established brands in the marketplace.

Bluetree has been experiencing an increase in demand for short run, versioned work from its customers. The HP Scitex FB7500 Printer is ideal for the cost-effective production of these jobs. With its ability to shorten the production process, the HP Scitex FB7500 will allow Bluetree to reduce its turnaround times and produce work within increasingly shorter deadlines, enabling staff to concentrate on other areas of production. Reaching print speeds of up to 500m2 or 105, 120 x 240cm sheets per hour, the new press enables Bluetree to offer its customers a flexible, rapid turnaround, digital print service.

 

 

“We will use our new HP Scitex FB7500 Printer to offer our customers a new range of services that will cost-effectively add value to their applications,” said Bryan Shirley, managing director, Bluetree Design & Print. “We believe that the versatility of the new printer and our ability to offer fully personalised applications will help us win more from our existing customers as well as attracting new business.”

Bluetree purchased its HP Scitex FB7500 Printer to complement its existing screen printing equipment and its HP Scitex XP2700 Printer, installed in May 2008.

“Bluetree has established a reputation for producing the best possible quality items for our customers and it was vital that any new equipment that we invested in reflected this,” said Shirley. “We are delighted with the print quality that our new printer can achieve. It can capture the fine detail required by our customers. The HP UV-curable inks are fantastic and give a depth of colour that makes the applications really stand out.”

Brilliant Graphics Group/Sampco Co. was recently honoured with the Specialty Graphics Imaging Associations coveted André Schellenberg Golden Image Award for Trade Show Displays and Exhibits. “The Best of What Digital Imaging Has to Offer” Gold Medal was presented at SGIA in New Orleans for an innovative brick paver image printed on carpet using a Durst Rho 800 Presto UV inkjet printer.

This prestigious award is presented to digital printers and recognises dedication and talent in creating the best of what digital imaging has to offer, according to the SGIA.  The Schellenberg award was presented to the Brilliant Graphics Group founder and CEO Michael O. Ryan during the 2009 SGIA Expo.

“This is a remarkable honour”, said Ryan. “It’s our combination of creative design experience combined with the world’s finest digital imaging technology, such as the Rho 800, that allows us to produce award-winning products – not just for the competitions, but for every one of our clients every day of the year.”

The winning entry was a carpeted floor talker for the building materials industry.  Brick pavers were captured on a Cruse HD Scanner, colour matched and printed on carpet using a Durst Rho 800 Presto UV flatbed.  Ryan said the end result was a reproduction of the pavers that was printed Color Perfect™ and difficult to distinguish from the original.

This year’s event drew a wide range of innovative imaging products – nearly 450 entries from more than 90 companies around the world.  The event, named after the SGIA’s founding father, André Schellenberg, is a technical competition.  Prints are judged on their level of difficulty and quality of execution.

“All of us at Durst are proud of the role we played in Brilliant Graphics Group’s award, and its recognition as one of the top digital printers in the world in terms of quality and capability,” said Michael Lackner, Marketing & Sales Manager for Durst U.S. “We congratulate Michael Ryan and his team, and we look forward to continued success together producing output judged to be world class year after year.”

The Durst Rho 800 Presto is the world’s first large format digital imaging platform with “continuous board printing” for highest productivity. It is capable of printing up to 100 125 x 80cm (4 x 2.6 ft.) sheets per hour. It will also print up to a maximum width of 250cm (8ft) by any length and can print white and special colours, including light cyan and light magenta or clear varnish without loss of speed.

B2R of Lisbon, Portugal, in association with Quiosque das Ideias, a company of the same group, has used its newly installed HP Designjet L65500 Printer to produce indoor and outdoor ‘eco’ friendly graphics for 52 Portuguese railway stations.

Utilising its new HP printer’s environmental benefits, B2R also maximised the Designjet L65500’s high productivity capability to complete the job on time, and produce a mix of customer friendly indoor and outdoor graphics. These graphics were used for station decoration, directional signage, customer information and promotional purposes.

“Because the Designjet L65500 uses water based latex inks, we are able to provide graphics that are not only odourless and eco friendly, but of high print resolution suitable for both near and distant viewing. This was essential in successfully communicating important commuter information. What’s more, as the prints are designed to be long lasting, they represented a great return-on-investment for the customer,” said Paulo Silva, marketing director, B2R.

Established in 2001, B2R is part of a group of companies offering creative services, communication services including signage and exhibition graphics and large format production. Printing on a variety of substrates including paper, canvas, vinyl, textiles, wood and metal, B2R’s customers look for creativity, image quality and a match between the printing method and the application. Importantly, they also consider the environment where the graphic is to be used.

B2R was commissioned to produce 210 graphics for over 52 Railway stations in Portugal, covering in excess of 300m2 of media. Key to winning this prestigious project was the company’s new Designjet L65500, which enabled it to produce and install environmentally friendly graphics that supported the customers’ green policy, while better serving Portuguese commuters.

The HP Designjet L65500 provides print service providers (PSPs) with many benefits, including print speeds of up to 79m2/hr, HP Latex Inks that require no ventilation when printing and applications that are fume free(1) and safe to use indoors and in confined spaces such as offices and elevators. HP Latex Printing Technologies provide durable, odourless(2) prints; sharp, vivid image quality; application versatility and high-productivity.

These new production benefits are enabling B2R to attract a diverse range of customers, for a variety of large format applications. Critically, the Designjet L65500 is enabling the company to increase its print capacity and grow its business, while reducing the impact of printing on the environment.

Although only relatively recently installed, B2R has already carried out a number of other jobs that utilise the printer’s abilities.

The company has decorated many wind turbines with graphics, making the link between clean power and printing using non-polluting materials. Also important was the interior design job for Farmacia Ascenso, a leading pharmaceutical retailer. Wide-format prints on vinyl now decorate the interior and exterior of the pharmacy, for all customer communication and promotions. The combination of high-resolution print for up-close viewing and odour-free(2) inks made the HP Designjet L65500 Printer with Latex Inks ideal for the job.

“We experienced a business revolution when we installed the new HP printer,” said Paulo Silva, managing director, B2R. “Speed, quality and printer durability are fantastic. But the most impressive benefits are the environmental improvements to our print production, and the impact this has had on customer satisfaction.

“In addition, our operators are very happy, because the air they breathe is now fresh – we are very impressed.”

FUJIFILM Sericol USA, Inc. announced today the sale of an Inca Onset S20 UV flatbed printer to Victory Screen Printing, located in Fullerton, Calif. Introduced earlier this year, the Inca Onset S20 delivers POP quality production at speeds up to 2,690 sq. ft. per hour on substrates up to 2" thick. The press will be installed later this month at Victory Screen Printing and is the first press to be installed on the West Coast.

"We're constantly looking toward the future and we see digital printing being the way the industry will move," explains Bob Bhagat, co-owner of the 46-year-old company that he and business partner Mike Savalia took over in 2000. "Digital quality is just amazing and it¹s hard to compare it to screen printing, especially when you consider the speed of digital printing. We definitely see it as the future and that's why we've added the Inca Onset S20."

Victory Screen Printing is a full-service, large-format screen and digital printing facility that works primarily for trade with other print shops, print brokers and advertising agencies. The company specializes in POP printing, including window clings, posters, merchandising displays, banners, floor graphics and a variety of other products and different substrates.

Savalia said they¹d been looking at digital solutions for some time, but weren't satisfied with the speed of the devices until they saw the Onset S20. "SpeedŠthat's what was holding us back," he said. "But now, we've got speed and quality with the Onset S20. It's going to provide our customers a lot of flexibility with their projects and we expect to increase the range of projects we're able to handle."

The company has grown steadily since Bhagat and Savalia took the helm, relying on a commitment to both service and quality. Victory Screen Printing and its 95 employees have also been committed to the latest technologies and, says Bhagat, is proud to now have the Onset S20.

In addition to the quality and capabilities of the device, Bhagat and Savalia also wanted to make sure they were comfortable with the company and manufacturer they were buying from. "Both Inca and FUJIFILM Sericol are well-known companies and they work well together. We're looking to form a long-term relationship with the companies we do business with, and both Inca and FUJIFILM Sericol are strong partners," explained Bhagat.

High quality, low prices and short delivery times: the new roll-to-roll printer with Xaar printheads and INX Digital UV curable inks meets the needs of small and medium-sized digital print centres.

With the launch at Viscom Italy (Milan, Fieramilano, Hall 3, booth K11 - November 5-7) of the new large-format inkjet platform AsterJet 1650, Italy-based manufacturer Neolt delivers a powerful statement of its commitment to providing a wide range of inkjet printing and print finishing solutions for visual communication and industrial applications. AsterJet 1650 unites in one single product the conceptual, manufacturing and logistical strengths of the company from Bergamo.

With its 165cm printing width, the AsterJet 1650 is targeted at the great number of small and medium-sized printing houses that do not want to invest in solvent technology, but still need to broaden their business with printing on media for indoor and outdoor applications such as banner, adhesive vinyl, blueback paper, backlit films and polyester fabrics. Neolt manages to overcome this challenge creating a simple but incredibly robust and productive printer which is modular, cost-effective and easy to use. This result has also been made possible through partnerships with Xaar for the printheads and INX Digital for dedicated UV-curable inks. A photographic print quality and a productivity of up to 50 m2/h are guaranteed by the innovative binary Xaar Proton 360x1440 dpi heads driving a 4-color (CMYK) print engine which is optionally upgradeable to 6 colours, adding Light Cyan and Light Magenta.

The connection with Onyx software solutions adds important value to the machine, optimising the printer's performance and offering a winning combination based upon ease-of-use, brilliant print quality, workflow efficiency and minimizing waste, ink consumption and production costs.

"Digital printers are facing competition in a market which demands high quality, low prices, short delivery times and a serious commitment regarding the environment. A tough challenge, which leaves no room for wrong investments and which has already caused the decline of solvent printing. - says Neolt's Managing Director Sergio Ferrari - This is why we designed AsterJet, a product which is the synthesis of all of Neolt's strengths in designing, developing and manufacturing inkjet printers for graphic applications and specialty printing. Thanks to a sharp analysis of the requirements of the market and thanks to our technological partners we have been able to realize a printer which meets the productivity needs and the investment capacities of small and medium-sized digital printers, without compromising on quality and productivity".

The Océ Arizona Series of UV flatbed printers have added two more awards to its list of distinguished honors. The Océ Arizona 350 XT and Océ Arizona 350 GT printers were both awarded the Product of the Year Award in their respective categories. The Océ Arizona 350 XT printer received the award for the Rigid Substrate UV >$200K MSRP category, and the Océ Arizona 350 GT printer was honored in the Rigid Substrate UV <$200K MSRP category. The awards were presented at the Specialty Graphic & Imaging Association's (SGIA) annual convention and exposition held October 7-9, 2009 in New Orleans, LA.

The Product of the Year Awards compare output from competing devices using a common test file designed by the association. The prints are reviewed by a panel of judges, each with a background and expertise in digital printing and imaging. The judges look for color appeal, detail and tonality, and the output is also judged on how closely it matches the test print.

The images for both entries were processed using ONYX ProductionHouse V7.3.2 Océ Edition RIP software. ONYX Graphics software utilizes ONYX color science and a proprietary color engine designed to specifically address color and profiling issues unique to large format inkjet printing. The results are better neutral, saturated and dark colors; and consistent color fidelity.

The Océ Arizona Series UV flatbed printers have been consistently honored by the SGIA organization. In 2006, the year of the original Océ Arizona 250 GT printer's introduction, it won the Vision Award, which is given to an exhibiting manufacturer whose new product has the best chance of positively impacting the digital imaging industry. The decision was based on the product's relevance to the market, potential industry influence and prospective value to the product's end users. The award was presented in September 2006.

In 2007, the Océ Arizona 250 GT printer was awarded the Product of the Year Award in the Output Device Rigid Substrate UV category. In 2008, the Océ Arizona 350 GT printer was given the Product of the Year Award Honorable Mention in the UV Cured Rigid category.

In all, Océ Arizona Series UV flatbed printers have accumulated 15 industry awards to date from organizations throughout the world. These awards validate the quality and innovation built into every Océ Arizona Series printer, now the most popular printer in its class.