The Chatham, Kent-based business has made the investment to boost its firepower and enable it to take on more work.
PressOn has been operating a beta version of the Latex 3500 at its 930sqm premises since November 2014. It replaced a Latex 3000, which the firm signed for at Fespa 2013. The final release version of the Fespa-launched printer will be delivered to the company later in the year.
Managing director Andy Wilson said: “One of the reasons we were chosen to beta test the 3500 and do the big roll testing is because we had a high mileage on the Latex 3000, which was awesome and so fast compared to the Latex printers that we had before. Although we were happy with the 3000, we were pushing it a bit.
“The 3500 has the ability to access the underneath to load rolls better and also the ability to be able to put on 250-300m rolls and let them run unattended overnight, or 600m because it’s dual roll.
“We couldn’t do that on the 3000 because the bars on it weren’t in spec so they bowed; it wasn’t designed to take that kind of weight. The 3500 has got dual spindle rather than one big spindle that takes dual roll and it’s got a much more substantial gearbox in the middle.
“We can do much more volume with the 3500 which means that we can now take on shorter deadline jobs.”
The Latex 3500 is a more industrial and highly specified version of the Latex 3000. It features 10-litre ink containers and is able to handle heavier rolls than its predecessor.
The machine prints at 1,200dpi in six colours plus an ink optimiser with indoor and outdoor production speeds of 77sqm/hr and 120sqm/hr. Billboards can be printed at up to 180sqm/hr. It can print on single rolls up to 3.2m wide or two rolls of up to 1.55m wide each.
It is suitable for both indoor and outdoor wide-format products such as billboards, banners, textiles, vehicle graphics, self-adhesive vinyl and building wraps.
PressOn recently relocated from Rochester to its new Chatham premises in order to manage its continued growth. The beta version 3500 was installed a week after the company moved in.
The firm also operates a HP Latex 360, an EFI Vutek QS2 Pro, a Kongsberg iXP24 digital cutting table, a SupraCoater 1600 liquid laminator and a Solent Texsew Pro for automated stitching.
Joint managing directors Wilson and Nigel Webster established PressOn in 2000. The business has 26 staff and in the past three years its turnover has grown by 37% to around £3m.
In the past few years the business completed projects for Paultons Park, American Apparel, Crossrail, The Ritz London and Kingston University.
