John E Wright installs an EFI VUTEk M3h UV LED hybrid printer from CMYUK
John E Wright has invested in a new EFI VUTEk M3h UV LED hybrid printer from CMYUK, further advancing the company’s production quality, substrate versatility, and capacity.
Billed as a worthy successor to the VUTEk GS series, the most successful hybrid UV LED platform in EFI’s history, the VUTEK M3h replaces a 12-year-old EFI VUTEk GS 3250 LX Pro UV LED printer.
The company’s additional EFI VUTEk h5 – supplied by CMYUK – remains an important part of the printer fleet which also includes multiple Mimaki and Canon Colorado print technologies. The h5 will be mainly used for Foamex boards and high throughput panel work, complementing the M3h’s role as the primary production platform at John E Wright’s flagship premises in Nottingham.
“From day one, the VUTEk M3h felt like the practical, noโnonsense upgrade we needed – high quality, fast to adopt, and confidenceโbuilding for the team,” says the company’s Technical Director, Alan Edwards.
“Together the M3h and the h5 give us the perfect balance: hybrid versatility and panel power, exactly what we need to deliver consistent excellence at scale,” he adds.
Spoilt for choice
Alan spent two years looking for the right production platform from manufacturers such as SwissQ, Fujifilm, and Agfa. However, after seeing the M3h at CMYUK’s demonstration and training centre in Shrewsbury, he immediately identified it as the heir-apparent to the company’s beloved GS printer.
“Ultimately, we decided that a 3.2m wide UV hybrid printer matched our evolving applications and met our strategic priorities,” says Alan.
The choice also benefits from John E Wright’s longstanding relationship with CMYUK, with continuity across workflow components, including the Fiery XF Pro RIP, which has helped to minimise retraining and accelerate ramp-up from installation. Colour profiling was completed quickly by CMYUK’s colour specialist, Rob Cawston, ensuring a complete visual match with legacy output.
Performance and applications
A key driver for the investment was consistent print quality on modern, sensitive, and eco-responsible substrates. The VUTEk M3h is designed to handle these challenging materials while maintaining quality and efficiency. The printer is also scheduled for a Media Edge Guide system (MEG), a mechanical upgrade that adds edge guides to the media feed paths. This helps to position and stabilise materials (especially flexible roll media and fluted boards) more accurately as they feed through the printer.
The M3h is a CMYK printer with white as standard. With a resolution of up to 2,400dpi, it offers outstanding print quality, making it ideal for close-view graphics across exhibitions, retail, POP, and all experiential creative environments.
With impressive productivity, it outputs 40 POP quality boards per hour, offers continuous dual board and roll printing that supports unique jobs on each substrate. It can handle up to 5-layers of ink in a single pass, while optional clear ink can be used to enhance a full image (full flood) or used in selected areas to accentuate colours or add special effects to graphics.
Its energy-efficient UV-LED curing system lowers power consumption and waste, supporting a more eco-friendly and cost-effective way to produce high-impact visual communication.
“The M3h has already changed our production rhythm, so there’s less maintenance, more uptime, and the headroom to say yes to bigger, closerโview work without hesitation,” says Alan.
Business impact
This new printer has made an instant impact on the business. “It has reduced our maintenance burden, increased uptime and production capacity, and allowed us to re-optimise shift patterns, energy use, and resource deployment,” Alan notes.
It’s also supported the rapid fulfilment of a significant year-end contract and underpinned a strong start to the New Year, which includes winning the largest contract in the company’s impressive 125-year history.
Tony Barnett, MD, adds, “The M3h is the latest example of the company investing in state-of-the-art equipment in order to drive growth. It gives us the flexibility to explore new applications and materials, respond faster to changing market demands, and embrace the trend towards more environmentally responsible substrates. Just as importantly, it strengthens our ability to work across multiple sectors while upholding what we’ve always stood for: innovation, reliable quality, and a service our customers can always trust.”