The installation of an EFI VUTEk LX3 Pro hybrid flatbed/roll-to-roll LED inkjet printer is expected to to significantly increase U.S. based Premium Color Group’s (PCG) responsiveness and capabilities.
The 320cm (126 inch) wide digital printer, which produces up to 50 boards per hour in its premium quality/point-of-purchase modes, offers a dramatic speed increase for PCG, so much so that the company was able to replace a pair of smaller LED printers while increasing its throughput capacity by 78%. Because the VUTEk LX3 Pro handles both rigid and roll materials, the company has also eliminated the need for one of its two roll-to-roll printers.
Founded 25 years ago as a prepress shop, the company has grown to become a full-service marketing solutions provider and offers offset and digital printing, hand assembly, fulfillment, wide format graphics and a custom packaging line of products.
‘Two and a half years ago, we got into the custom packaging business with our U.S.-patented Box line,’ said Mark Fitzgerald, one of the three managing partners at PCG along with John Watson and Andy Griffin. ‘In two-and-a-half years, we grew the line tenfold, and the demand continues to grow. We needed to vastly increase our throughput while keeping the same great quality, and the VUTEk LX3 with the Fiery controller fits the bill perfectly. We loved the quality of our previous EFI printers, so we had confidence the VUTEk LX3 Pro would also be a quality product, and it is.’
PCG’s new printer delivers high production throughput for shorter lead times while maintaining exceptional image quality. The versatile hybrid device can print on materials up to 5cm (two inches) thick with eight colours plus white and multilayer printing at resolutions of up to 1000 dots per inch.
The range of compatible media for the VUTEk printer was a key consideration in the company’s purchase decision. PCG’s new production device features EFI’s ‘cool cure’ LED technology. Compared with latex and UV printers, LED not only reduces the amount and cost of energy used for curing prints, it gives PCG the ability to print heat-sensitive substrates.
PCG’s experience and comfort with using EFI technologies goes beyond the printer to the advanced Fiery proServer digital front end (DFE) the company also acquired to drive the new printer. According to Fitzgerald, PCG’s operators appreciate the advantage Fiery DFEs bring to streamlining production processes and maintaining high quality. ‘We have two digital presses with Fiery DFEs, plus we had them on our previous EFI wide format printers,’ he said. ‘So, we know first-hand how Fiery gives us more control over colour profiling than other systems.’
|
LOCAL DISTRIBUTOR |
