The Leicester-based wide-format and signage specialist brought in its new machines the week before Christmas.
Costing £200,000, the 3.2m Agfa is a belt-driven hybrid that can handle all types of rigid materials and replaces two eight-year-old EFI Vutek presses. Also brought in from a deal with Kettering distributor I-Sub Digital was the new Zünd G3, which replaces two smaller Zünd machines and cost £180,000.
“At the end of the day, we had our previous equipment for a very long time – 13 years with our Zünd cutters and eight with the Vuteks,” said Digital Wordcrafts managing director Adrian Bingley. “We all know what technology is like, and even one year can be a long time in this industry, so it was a natural progression to upgrade our tired machines.
“Now we are able to take on bigger jobs with a faster turnaround and higher quality. The press is our first Agfa machine and we have been very impressed so far, it was up-and-running within two days of installation and staff training.
“It allows us to be more versatile, pitching bigger jobs to our customers – in many ways it is the same work we did before, but now we can do it far better and bigger.”
Digital Wordcrafts has slowly increased the width of its machines across a 15-year relationship with I-Sub, beginning with a 1.3m Mimaki printer. Its line-up now comprises three Mimaki JV150s, two 1.6m and one 1.3m, alongside the new Agfa.
Agfa’s Anapurna H3200i has the ability to print 3x1.5m sheets landscape. Roll media is available up to 3.2m wide and the printer can operate in both single- and dual-roll configurations. Its LED-UV curing supports a wide media mix at all print quality levels and it comes with white ink as standard to increase the range of possible applications.
Running 15 hours a day, the Agfa has doubled productivity for the firm, according to Bingley. A recent application saw the company turn over 400 metres of poster paper in 26 hours for a customer.
The new Zünd has a conveyor belt system that allows Digital Wordcrafts to add a roll on one end that moves through the cutter and delivers a seamless workflow.
Digital Wordcrafts employs 37 staff and turns over £3.5m. Its base comprises six adjacent units on the same estate.
