Print Monthly

And one piece of kit has made all the difference to Kettering-based Artisan Signs, which cited just these reasons as factors that fuelled them to purchase a new Mimaki UJV55-320 LED UV printer.

Graham Davey, owner of Artisan, explains: “For some time we had been outsourcing all print over 2m wide to third party suppliers and felt the time was now right to bring production back in-house, giving us much greater control, particularly when faced with challenging timescales and short deadlines.”

The issue of cost was inevitably a key consideration when it came to taking the plunge and investing in a state-of-the-art piece of machinery, as Davey continues: “There’s always been a huge gap between established roll-fed printers bought by typical small sign and graphics printers and the much more expensive super-wide offerings, generally found in larger sign and exhibition factories.

“With many of the 3.2m machines we were looking at costing anything between £150k and £200k, this would have been a very significant commitment for the business.  When we first heard about the launch of the Mimaki UJV55 with a price tag of around £60k we could scarcely believe our luck – certainly you might normally expect low-cost super-wide printers like this to be built by smaller manufacturers, with the lower price raising the spectre of poor build quality and doubtful reliability.

For our business, [Mimaki machines] have always proved to be ‘trusty workhorses’ that just keep on going”

“But our experience with Mimaki over the last 15 years or so reassured us that we could expect it to deliver - for our business they have always proved to be ‘trusty workhorses’ that just keep on going.”

The new machine is already installed and having a considerable impact on the firm’s output, allowing them more control over deadlines and generating more profit. The company is noticing an upturn in demand for textile print that is present industry-wide.

Alison Davey concludes: "Graham and I did a fair bit of research before making this investment and observed a few industry commentators describing this new Mimaki UJV55-320 as being a real ‘game-changer’ for the sector, particularly at this price point. Watching our team use this machine and seeing the positive impact it’s had on both our productivity and profitability – we can’t help but agree!”