Beginning life as a small print and copy shop in central Bath 24 years ago, the business has grown over the years and recently invested over £1m on a move to a commercial unit in central Bath.
The business offers a comprehensive service including print, design, and signage, with products ranging from greetings cards, wall planners, and flyers to exhibition displays, shop fronts, and vehicle graphics.
Before installing the new laser in June, the team was already using a wide selection of different technologies, including a range of printers and a mechanical flatbed cutter with a camera system.
These technologies allowed it to offer a comprehensive service, however some work, like pre-cutting acrylic, had to be outsourced or bought in from other suppliers. The cost was not significant but meant that lower margins were made on projects and lead times could be affected.
The Sign & Digital UK show in Birmingham in March enabled the business to properly explore laser production, as there were four manufacturers at the event, including Trotec Laser.
On the Trotec stand, Minuteman Press Bath managing director David Ghent and visual communications manager Kieran Blacknall saw the Q500 dual source laser cutter in action, and received advice and information from Trotec.
Blacknall then booked a demonstration at the Trotec showroom near Bristol the following week, testing a wide variety of materials on the Q500. He was impressed with its versatility and quality, and this led the company to make the purchase.
“The Q500 is an excellent addition to our workflow, giving us a new dimension to processing and allowing us to offer a comprehensive range of options for clients,” said Blacknall.
“We’re always looking for ways to add value to our portfolio by investing in the best technology and equipment, and we are excited by the possibilities offered by the Q500 and where it will take the business.”
All products are now being created in-house by the team. While laser cutting is not suitable for processing materials containing PVC, it can process a raft of substrates not possible with its existing plotter, including acrylics. The accuracy of the laser means that labels and stickers can be kiss cut, which is also not possible with the plotter.
Minuteman Press Bath also purchased the add-on Trotec Vision Print & Cut camera system. This enables printed materials with registration marks to be processed accurately, providing an efficient workflow and negating the need for manual alignment of jobs.
The business has used the new Q500 to process a range of materials, Blacknall added.
“Trotec materials are excellent quality and allow us to offer something new to our range. Alongside TroLase signage, we have also processed multiple LaserLeather jobs, which, never having processed textiles before, was an exciting project for us to undertake.
“We’re also seeing lots of demand for printed acrylic signage and we’ve come up with a great workflow to produce this as a very high-quality product in-house with TroGlass.”
