The Cardiff-based company took delivery of the machine from supplier CMYUK earlier this month to increase its quality and solve capacity issues at its facility.
EFI’s latest soft signage printer, the Vutek FabriVu 340i+ received its UK premiere at an open house held last week at CMYUK’s training and production facility in Shrewsbury.
The machine will be used by 3 Sixty to output a range of eco textiles also supplied by CMYUK.
3 Sixty managing director Richard Inkin said: “The new Vutek FabriVu 340i+ continues our strategy of investing in cutting edge equipment and the most advanced proven materials available today. We like to take the lead and it was the right time to invest in this new EFI technology.”
3 Sixty was founded in 2010 and was an early adopter of dye-sublimation printing. Its fully integrated service offering includes design, manufacturing, printing, installation, and project management.
The company serves four main market sectors – retail, events, exhibitions, and leisure. Printing of textiles accounts for 40% of the company’s output but Inkin expects this to increase to 60% in the next nine months, partly due to the arrival of new materials the business is currently testing with CMYUK that will come to market in the autumn.
The Vutek FabriVu 340i+ replaced the FabriVu 340i and was first unveiled in Asia in October 2021.
The new 3.3m-wide ‘plus’ model offers the same direct-to-substrate and sublimation transfer printing options as the previous iteration, but it has eight Kyocera printheads rather than four, boosting image quality and increasing speeds in point-of-purchase mode by 48%, according to EFI.
The machine is suitable for use with all textiles materials including backlit, frontlit, blackback, and flag.
Ben Newton, joint owner of 3 Sixty, added: “CMYUK is a key partner for us both on equipment and materials. It understands our business very well and we trust the team implicitly.
“The calibre of people who work there is very impressive, there is a great deal of knowledge and expertise which is communicated very well through impeccable customer service.”
