PDI Large Format Solutions recently installed three EFI Vutek models. This includes the next-generation, high-end flatbed/roll-fed VUTEk h3 superwide format LED printer, and the new EFI VUTEk 3r+ roll-to-roll LED printer, making PDI Large Format the first company in Canada to install both models.
Additionally, the company has installed an EFI VUTEk FabriVU 340i soft signage printer. This technology upgrade gives PDI Large Format Solutions the platform to drive growth over the next few years.
According to Jamie Barbieri, president of PDI Group Inc., the purchase ensures that the company can consistently deliver high-quality work even as volume needs expand. Plus, with its new LED and soft signage printing capabilities, PDI Large Format can recapture jobs it had outsourced in the past.
‘The new EFI devices take us to a new level of capacity, quality and efficiency,’ said Francis Tellier, president of PDI Large Format Solutions. ‘We’ve increased our production capacity by 40%, and we have aggressive plans to double our annual growth for the next few years. In addition, the new devices feature significantly lower costs for ink, electricity and maintenance, which helps us maintain our competitiveness in a large market.
‘When it came time to invest in new technology, we decided to build on our partnership because EFI was able to satisfy all our needs with its technology through one vendor,’ he added. ‘They were able to give us roll-to-roll, rigid, and dye-sublimation technology with one service agreement. No one else could do that.’
The need for faster, high-end rigid-substrate work made the VUTEk h3 installation particularly important. EFI designed the new 3.2-metre (126 inch) wide h3 printer from the ground up to offer customers higher productivity, print quality, reliability, capability and increased profitability.
EFI’s VUTEk h series, which includes the h3 model and h5 model available as a field upgrade or as a direct purchase, offers high-end imaging at resolutions up to 1200dpi. A new, high-velocity 7-picolitre UltraDrop Technology greyscale printhead ton PDI Large Format’s VUTEk h3 printer delivers precision dot placement and consistency with eight and optional four colour printing modes plus white, as well as nine-layer print capability. The printer, winner of SGIA’s 2018 Product of The Year award in the UV Hybrid/Flatbed High Volume Production Class category – offers maximum throughput of up to 74 boards per hour.
All three of the printers at PDI Large Format use EFI Fiery proServer digital front ends (DFEs), which provide advanced colour management, workflow and production tools. The DFEs installed at the company also eliminate idle printer time using EFI’s Fiery Accelerated System Technology (FAST RIP) technology, which speeds up file processing by an average of five times compared to previous proServer versions.
GRAPHIX SUPPLY WORLD (+27 21) 511 5340 marketing@gsw.co.za http://www.gsw.co.za
