Relocating to 1,100sqm premises in Tring, Hertfordshire from Kings Langley on 24 July and thereby tripling in size, the wide-format printer took delivery of the 3.2m-wide roll-to-roll 3200i LED machine on the same day, comprising around 8% of the overall investment figure and replacing a Mimaki UJV55 LED-UV printer.

Operations director Chris Parker said the move was driven by necessity as the 15-staff outfit could not fulfil its client requirements at the smaller unit, and described the new premises as a “dream”. 

“We’re already noticing the difference, the sheer factor of efficiency alone,” said Parker. 

“We’re not working on top of people and not having to move stuff to get done. We recently had a job for Panasonic where we made a load of display cases but we just didn’t have the room to put them anywhere, so we were rushing them out the door and making more, whereas now we just make the whole job.”

Launched last year and configured with Agfa’s Asanti workflow, the six-colour (CMYK plus light magenta plus white) Anapurna uses Konica Minolta printheads, running at speeds of up to 127sqm/hr and printing on a variety of media types. Joining a 2015-purchased Anapurna M2500i in Project’s print room, it comes with LED-UV air curing as standard, saving on energy and reducing operational expenses. 

Parker added: “We already have the 2500i so we already knew the service and quality of both the machine and Agfa so it was a no brainer really. We’ve never had issues with the 2500i and if we get the service we’ve had from Agfa, the engineers have been second-to-none.”

With further expansion in mind, Projects has recently taken on a new member of staff, Simon Oldhams, to its projects and signs division, and is likely to replace the M2500i with a new flatbed machine in the new year. It counts Network Rail, Samsung and Costa Coffee as clients, also running a 2016-purchased Dyss X7 cutter and various items of wide-format finishing equipment.