The purchase of the wide-format printer, which cost just less than £100,000, rounds off a year of investment at Blink. The company replaced its previous Agfa model at the start of the year with an Anapurna 2050i and also bolstered its finishing department with a number of installations, mainly for digital foiling and digital spot varnish.
The latest Agfa was installed at the premises of the 15-staff outfit on 31 October.
Blink sales and marketing director Esther Butterfield said: “We couldn’t keep up with the capacity. It has mainly been purchased for a little bit of a different service.
“We’re already very impressed with Agfa, this is the third one we have purchased in total, and the static bed on this one will enable us to produce more card for our retail POS clients. The work that was coming off the wide-format machine earlier this year was getting great feedback from clients so the decision was easy.”
The machine prints at a maximum speed of up to 93sqm/hr on draft mode and 58sqm/hr on express mode. It takes media ranging in thickness from 0.2mm to 45mm at a maximum size of 2.5x1.5m.
It can handle a variety of substrates, including reinforced vinyl, canvas, corrugated board and sheet metal, and prints at a resolution of up to 540x1,080dpi.
Blink business development director Neil Richardson said the Agfa would help to double Blink’s capacity and allow for quicker turnaround times on large-scale projects. He also said Blink would continue to invest into 2017.
“We are excited about next year and will continue to invest in line with how we work with our clients. At the moment we have a good array of finishing kit but it’s really one of those industries where technology is rapidly changing and one of our roles as a print agency is to stay abreast of that new technology,” added Richardson.
Blink operates from three sites in Lutterworth, Leicestershire, and also houses a Zünd cutting table, along with equipment for screen printing, a laminator and a perfect binder.
Last year, it turned over around £1.5m.
