EnglishFrenchGermanItalianPortugueseRussianSpanish

Display Wizard invests in a Mimaki UJV100-160 and EFI VUTEk Pro 32r+ LED UV printer from CMYUK

Paul Jenkinson and Peter Symonds from Display Wizard with an EFI VUTEk 32r + from CMYUK
Paul Jenkinson, Production Manager (left) with Peter Symonds, MD, Display Wizard

Display Wizard has purchased an EFI VUTEk 32r + and Mimaki UJV100-160 printers from CMYUK. The investment was made to replace existing malfunctioning and under-performing print production equipment.

The Preston-based wide format digital printing company, founded in 2004, primarily services the exhibitions industry.  Three years ago, it bought a Jetrix printer, however, a power surge at the company’s production facility earlier this year, rendered it unusable and non-repairable. A part solution response was to purchase an HP 800 Latex printer to output banner applications, while all other print work was temporarily outsourced. 

The HP Latex printer was replaced with a Mimaki UJV100-160 from CMYUK. This is a dedicated roll-to-roll UV curable printer that offers high quality, stability, and productivity due to a NCU (Nozzle Check Unit), NRS (Nozzle Recovery System), and MAPS4 (Mimaki Advanced Pass System4). The DAS (Dot Adjustment System) incorporated into the new 100 series printers means that dot position and feed correction are now automated, reducing operator workload.

Despite the installation of the Mimaki, Display Wizard still needed to address production for its pop-up and panelling work, all of which often use a heavy 465-micron media.

We came to the conclusion that a big industrial printer from EFI was just what was needed,” says Peter Symonds, MD, Display Wizard

VUTEk 32r – EFI’s latest roll-to-roll printer

The EFI VUTEK Pro 32r+ is a 3.2m wide production level printer designed to push businesses towards greater productivity. A four-colour machine with a white ink option, it features 7pL UltraDrop Technology for high-definition print quality. It uses cool cure LED technology that reduces operating costs and allows for the use of thinner substrates, promoting a lower environmental footprint.

“I’ve always seen EFI printers as the Rolls Royce of the digital printing industry, lots of companies use them, and the technology is proven. The Jetrix was a good piece of kit when it worked, although I found the prints to be quite grainy probably because they print at 14pL.  The VUTEk 32r+ prints at a much higher definition at double the speed and allows for dual roll printing. The EFI demonstration showing how the dual rolls worked was impressive.  We’ve printed dual rolls since, flawlessly. We’ve also run triple rolls and that’s worked well too,” says Peter.

At the time of installing the VUTEk Pro 32r +, Amira Bouchiba, CMYUK Academy Manager, implemented an automated workflow that does away with the need to create manual files in the company’s existing but now defunct i-Cut software.  The VUTEk Pro 32r+ has an in-built Fiery RIP that creates both a print file for the printer and a cut file that it sends to the Kongsberg digital cutting table, which was also purchased from CMYUK but back in 2019.  Fiery software offers RIP and print on demand functionality, and the ability to print pre-ripped files at the printer interface. 

“Fiery has improved our workflow. It has reduced the amount of time spent running jobs through iCut, in turn saving valuable hours.” says Peter.

Despite the challenges in the exhibitions sector in recent months, the business successfully navigated its way through Lockdown and with the new equipment can cope with the increase in market demand in-house. As far as forward thinking goes, it’s a case of business-as-usual but at an elevated level of higher quality, faster speeds, and greater consistency.

EFI  |  Materials  |  News