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REACT - the new technical support service recently launched by CSL Digital - delivers printer breakdown cover for just £1.78 a day. According to CSL Digital, REACT is a direct response to the increasing number of requests from customers looking for a more affordable alternative to the traditional manufacturer extended warranties that provide technical support for wide format printers.

Justin Atkinson, Technical Director - CSL Digital, comments: “Although we will always offer manufacturer extended warranties to our customers, it’s often the case that, mainly for financial reasons, a significant number of our customers choose not to take up this offer.”

CSL Digital has always had its own team of technicians and field engineers to support customers that find themselves out of warranty when a problem occurs. Based on up to date product knowledge and training, this team is equipped to deliver support across a broad range of wide format printing and cutting technologies, Roland, Fujifilm, Mimaki and Mutoh. Using this in-house resource, the company has now decided to roll out a new technical support model that’s similar to the emergency breakdown cover you might take out for your car or van.

REACT offers wide format printer owners a range of technical support services, including preventative maintenance visits and breakdown cover that provides telephone support, call outs and onsite engineer time from as little as £1.78 a day. REACT membership also entitles customers to various discounts and CSL Digital customers will also receive a special rebate on the inks, materials and accessories that they purchase over the course of a year which can be used to offset or entirely pay for the cost of REACT membership.

Justin Atkinson concludes: “By launching REACT, we hope to offer all our customers, whether under warranty or covered by REACT membership, the peace of mind of knowing that professional technical support for their business-critical printing or cutting equipment is only ever a phone call away. ”  

Further information about the new REACT technical support service can be obtained by contacting CSL Digital on 01628 560 890 or sending a request by email to react@csl-digital.com.

Mimaki’s exclusive UK and Ireland distributor, Hybrid Services, has announced very attractive pricing over the summer for its 1.6m JV150 and JV300 printers when purchased as part of a package with a CG-160FXII cutter, with prices starting from only £14,995.

“Mimaki’s versatile Sign and Graphics printer range is jam-packed with high performance features and makes use of the durable and vivid SS21 ink set that includes silver, white, orange and light black,” says Hybrid’s National Sales Manager, John de la Roche. “Couple this with the proven technology of a Mimaki cutter and it provides a professional solution at a very attractive price point. In addition to this there are also substantial savings on Mimaki’s range of cutting plotters."

Both Mimaki’s JV150-160 and JV300-160 printers deliver superior print quality and productivity and the latter boasts a top speed of over 105m²/h utilising its staggered dual print-head system which, coupled with variable ink dots and large ink drops means excellent quality is maintained at high speed.

“The Mimaki packages represent the ultimate solution when investing in a print and cut system," continues de la Roche. "They offer an unparalleled price/performance ratio and the very highest build quality - both key reasons why graphics professionals worldwide choose Mimaki.”

The JV300 & JV150 Series printers are not only compatible with solvent inks, but make an ideal solution for companies looking at bringing production dye sublimation printing to their business when running with the appropriate ink sets. Mimaki’s latest Sb54 dye sublimation inks offers market-leading value thanks to a price of only £52.50 / litre and is suitable for sublimation printing onto textile and rigid substrates. The vibrant and long lasting result makes it ideal for sportswear, fast fashion, promotional products, event signage and textile point of sale.

“This summer, signmakers, display graphics professionals and printshops can make the investment in a 1.6m wide Mimaki print & cut package from just £14,995 to include a two year gold warranty, RIP and cutting software, 3.5 litres of ink and a powered take-up unit up until the end of September, so there’s never been a better time to buy a Mimaki printer,” concludes de la Roche.

Full details on Mimaki’s product range can be found by visiting www.hybridservices.co.uk.

East Midlands manufacturer DPI (UK) Limited has moved its factory to Castle Donington, investing in larger premises to accommodate its growing business.

DPI (UK) Limited manufactures aluminium frames and light boxes used with tensioned fabric graphics for the large format printing trade in the UK and Ireland. Widely used by major retailers, in airports and for conferences and exhibitions with fabric graphics printed via dye sublimation, latex or UV devices, the fabrics then push fit on to DPI (UK)’s frames and can be folded or rolled enabling them to be cost effectively shipped.

Director Paul Tomlinson explains, “We started the business in 2014 but by 2016, we were literally bursting at the seams at our Pride Park factory. We use long lengths of aluminium to build huge suspended structures so having plenty of room to manoeuvre materials and frames around is an absolute must. We also needed more space for the pre-build stage, which is when the team here makes sure everything fits and works perfectly before being dispatched to our customers.

The significant investment we’ve made in our business over the past few months is already having a very positive impact. As well as taking new factory space at Trent Lane Industrial Estate giving us dedicated offices for meetings, we’re building a showroom to display frames and showcase much more of what we offer. We’ve also recruited a CAD designer to join our team which will help us turn round projects more quickly.”

Paul adds: "The impact of the move on staff morale is really noticeable; working in a less than ideal space undoubtedly had an effect on all of us, limiting us physically and mentally. Even in the few weeks we’ve been here, there’s a change in mood - we’re thinking bigger and better.”

Photo caption: Members of the team outside DPI (UK)’s new premises in Castle Donington

Roland DG is delighted to announce that the latest addition to its advanced and versatile TrueVIS printer/cutter range, the TrueVIS SG Series, has won ‘Best Print & Cut Solution’ at the prestigious EDP (European Digital Press) awards. The success of the SG-540 and SG-300 integrated print & cut devices follows that of the TrueVIS VG Series, which won in the same category in 2016.

Speaking at the awards ceremony, which took place at FESPA, Gillian Montanaro, Head of Marketing EMEA for Roland DG commented: ‘Roland DG is very proud to have won this award. It’s an exciting time for the industry with manufacturers striving to innovate and bring the very best solutions to market. This EDP recognition demonstrates that as a pioneer of digital wide format technology, Roland DG continues to lead the way with an unmatched product portfolio offering an award-winning combination of reliability, precision engineering, quality and return-on-investment.’

The EDP Association (European Digital Press Association) annually evaluates and celebrates the best new developments in print production, presenting awards to the very best solutions in the industry. The Technical Committee’s comments on the TrueVIS SG Series: ‘Based on the new print engine with FlexFire printheads it speeds up the production a lot compared to the older models in the market. These SG models are delivered as a good price and value combination.’

Gillian Montanaro explains: ‘The TrueVIS range takes integrated print & cut to the next level in terms of innovative features and performance-enhancing functions which deliver true benefits to the user in terms of efficiency, ease and stunning quality of output. The SG series delivers advanced TrueVIS technology at an unbeatable price and is the ideal versatile solution for print service providers who are starting out, or for those looking to boost their production capabilities.’

Photo shows Roland's Gillian Montanaro and EDP's Rudolf Messer.

EFI says it now offers one of the industry's most robust portfolios of digital textile production printers, and EFI signage customers, such as French digital printing specialist CIDI and U.S.-based Imagine! Express, are taking advantage of significant, profitable business opportunities.
 
EFI's portfolio of digital fabric printers includes the EFI™ VUTEk® FabriVU® series, a product line featured at the upcoming Fespa and PacPrint industry tradeshows that is designed to get customers into the soft signage business quickly with high image quality and true production-level throughput. EFI soft signage printers also include the EFI Reggiani ONE and PRO printer series for established soft signage producers looking to aggressively develop and drive more profitability with outstanding image quality and higher-volume capacity. All of these products leverage the industry leading expertise of EFI Reggiani - a market leader with 70 years of experience in textile printing - together with EFI's recognised expertise in workflow, colour management and business management solutions.
 
500% increase in capacity with "the best full solution"

Imagine! Express, a company that serves retail, museum, tradeshow and corporate décor customers, had been using a fleet of several older-model printers that were nearing end-of-life. The company chose to move from a primarily direct-to-fabric dispersion printing technology to transfer printing, acquiring 3.4-metre EFI VUTEk FabriVU 340 and EFI Reggiani PRO 340 printers. The two production devices are boosting the company's quality, while increasing capacity by 500%.
 
"As we looked to move down this new path, we targeted the transfer printing model that we believe gives you the sharpest, cleanest look with the greatest depth of colour," explained Mike Lecus, the company's president. "While our direct dispersion printer still had some life in it, we decided to replace it with the FabriVU 340 to put in place a more strategic workflow committed fully to transfer printing.
 
"By adding the EFI Reggiani PRO 340 as well, we are able to increase our capacity by 500% without the need for additional staff in the printing department," Lecus added. "Following our due diligence, we felt that EFI presented the best full solution for our business."
 
VUTEk FabriVU printers have proven to be especially successful in helping signage and display companies move into higher-value soft signage display work as they offer an unparalleled combination of productivity and quality. And, a new, 5.2-metre soft signage model, the EFI VUTEk 520 printer, has already seen a number of installations in Europe and North America among customers now offering larger displays, theatrical backdrops and other oversized graphics without having to seam together multiple panels.
 
CIDI: A positive revolution

CIDI, a textile soft signage specialist company based in suburban Paris, acquired a 3.4-metre EFI Reggiani PRO 340 printer last year to bolster its position in soft signage and open new opportunities for fabric-printed graphics.
 
"This printer has brought about a real positive revolution in our way of working thanks to its productivity, efficiency and the ease-of-use for our employees," said CIDI co-founder Henri Dias. "Our customers are in growing markets with good margins - especially the interior decoration market. The printer gives us tremendous flexibility to help them in terms of the range of textiles we can offer, and it allows us to provide levels of responsiveness and print quality that few can match today."
 
The industry's only end-to-end digital print workflow and printer offering

Complementing the VUTEk FabriVU and Reggiani ONE and PRO printers, EFI has the industry's only complete end-to-end workflow available for signage production, from advanced web-to-print design and eCommerce software that integrates with EFI Fiery® digital front ends offering industry-leading colour management and productivity tools, to a comprehensive and certified EFI Midmarket Print Suite with award-winning Pace™ MIS/ERP software at its core, for highly accurate scheduling, estimating, accounting and more in superwide-format graphics production.
 
"There are many advantages to soft signage," according to Marco Boer, vice president of digital print analyst company I.T. Strategies. "Not only does fabric signage provide a luxury look and feel, but there also are significant economic benefits to production, shipping and storage since they can be easily folded or rolled and typically weigh less than conventional vinyl. We see many opportunities in the sign and display graphics industry for increased adoption of textile printing technologies, which have advanced significantly in recent years."

[Image shows EFI Reggiani PRO 340]

Pyramid Display Materials has launched a new fully-comprehensive 337 page product and pricing guide for the Sign & Display industry. It covers every sheet and roll product type used encompassing rigid and flexible sheet, digital roll, Avery and Mactac self-adhesives, through to Print Shop Essentials.

Containing over 500 application shots, 50 major industry leading brands and approaching 100 product ranges, Pyramid claim this product guide is the most comprehensive ever produced for the sign and display industry. The weighty volume also includes a guide to flatbed digital printing together with a unique pictorial application product selector. Each product in the guide is also represented by graphical icons defining recyclability, recommended print and fabrication processes together with application recommendations.

A virtual copy of the guide is available to view on-line or a printed copy can be ordered by e-mailing myproductguide@pyramid-display.co.uk, via Pyramids web site or by contacting your local Pyramid sales office.