Delivered by distributor Sabur Ink Systems in April, the two machines replaced a pair of Roland VersaArt RS-640 inkjet printers, one of which was around a decade old. The new 1.9m-wide DGI dye-subs offer greater speed and width opportunities for Bradford-based L&S over the ageing 1.6m Rolands.
Spending approximately £75,000 on the two DGIs, managing director Lance Dentith has kicked off a project that will see L&S’s offering expanded and enhanced in order to take on an increase of demand when the Christmas season arrives.
He said: “The DGIs' width and speed open up new possibilities for us when printing, and though our Rolands were absolutely brilliant we have been able to take on new jobs where we would have struggled before, now that we have made the upgrade.
“We have been producing towels and merchandise for Bradford City FC, who in turn recommended us to Leeds United. We recently turned over 600 towels in two days for Leeds, where the same job would have taken much longer on our Rolands. We are now set to sit down with Leeds at the end of June to discuss more work.”
The Fabrijet FT-1908 from DGI can print at speeds up to 113sqm/hr using eight Panasonic printheads configured to run double CMYK. L&S’s new machine is part of a wider enhancement of the firm’s output which has also seen the installation of a £60,000 laser cutter from CCT UK.
A fibre blowing machine has been constructed onsite for £27,000 in a specially built separate unit to aid the production of pillows for L&S’s customisable product range.
Based out of a converted chapel in Keighley, Dentith now has a view to add a mezzanine above the factory floor to add 557sqm to his 790sqm total floor space.
Two new sewing machines, one packer and an operator for the fibre blower were also recently added to L&S’s staff, bringing the number to 24 employees. Dentith plans to hire at least four more members of staff across the year as expansion continues.
“We had to shut down production over the Christmas period last year because our facilities could not take the pressure,” he said. “We lost a lot of money and so I sat down with my family, who also work at L&S, to discuss whether we should cut back or push ahead.
“In the end, we decided to go for it and so far, it has been going quite well. I expect we will have invested around half a million by the end of the year but will be ready to make the most of the increased holiday demand to get a return on that.”
Running online shops for its products on eBay, Amazon and Etsy, L&S has also recently launched its new website allowing people to fully customise the products they order – which include towels, suitcase skins, bar runners and cushions.
The firm currently turns over £1.1m, with a target of £1.7m as a result of the investment.
