The Bath-based company’s founder Jayson Godridge first saw the new machine under a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) in late 2023.
Impressed by its proposed new features, he decided to wait for its launch before investing in the machine. In January his team revisited Agfa’s Antwerp facility to see the printer in its Alpha form.
Following a few virtual meetings, the company placed its order for the machine in March, and the Ciervo H3200 was installed on its premises in April.
The ‘early adopter’ investment also secured the company’s status as an Agfa beta site, enabling it to receive additional technical support that will help it to rigorously test the flexibility and commercial benefits of the new machine.
The Ciervo H3200 is a hybrid wide-format inkjet printer designed with a 3.2m print width to handle a wide range of rigid and roll media for indoor and outdoor applications.
It offers efficient continuous board feeding and the ability to print on up to four boards simultaneously.
Powered by the Asanti workflow software, the printer features 16 inkjet heads and uses Thin Ink Layer Technology to help minimise ink consumption. Its dual roll ability also allows for printing two-up as required and, with improved tension, expands the range of media choices.
Freestyle Designs’ 10 staff operate from a circa-600sqm site and offer a wide range of services including signage, hoardings, shop fascias, wall graphics, office interiors, and vehicle wraps.
Godridge said: “In 2021, we bought our first Agfa hybrid printer to replace an old flatbed Mimaki machine that we had outgrown. At the time, we chose the smaller 2.5m Agfa Anapurna model due to space limitations in our old location.
“This new printer was a game changer for us, offering robust performance and significantly increased capacity compared to the old press, without any sacrifice in quality.
“When we relocated to our current larger premises 18 months ago, we brought the 2.5m Anapurna with us. However, as our business expanded, we needed a printer that could handle larger materials and improve our print speeds.”
He added: “One area we focused on was single piece wallcoverings, so we began to look into machines that could handle up to 3m to avoid seams in the material.
“After conducting thorough research and considering various options, we narrowed our choices down to EFI and Agfa. Ultimately, we went with the new Agfa Anapurna Ciervo because it was faster, used less ink, and we were already familiar with the Agfa system.
“We were also impressed by the quality, perfect for some of our detailed POS work, which could still be produced at speed.”
Freestyle Designs invested £200,000 in the Agfa machine and Godridge said the investment has greatly improved its operations, with quality enhanced at higher speeds and productivity increased, while it is also now able to handle work in-house that it couldn't do before.
He praised Agfa for providing reliable machines and experienced technical support, which he said makes for an enjoyable supplier relationship.
James Argent, sales manager (South) for inkjet at Agfa, also commented: “As this was the first installation of an Anapurna Ciervo in the UK, we decided to relocate their old Anapurna to a different area of the production unit while keeping it operational to provide our customer with peace of mind and to ensure no downtime for their business. We then installed the new, larger engine in its place.
“The installation went smoothly, requiring minimal training as the new Anapurna Ciervo essentially works the same as their old engine; it is powered by the Asanti workflow and has the same Graphic User Interface (GUI), making the transition for the print operatives easy. In reality, since the install the old Anapurna has been mostly unused, and we are now preparing to take it away for resale.”
