The Nottingham-based company installed a previous Zünd in its headquarters in 2014 and was impressed with the result.
Managing director Tony Barnett said: “The first one was fantastic, it really has streamlined our operation here in Nottingham, it has enabled us to have more throughput and less waste. We can operate a three-person shift with two people. It almost runs itself, it’s so reliable.”
He decided to invest £100,000 in a Zünd G3 L-2500 and secured a further £20,000 from the Local Growth Fund delivered by North East Lincolnshire Council.
Its installation earlier this month has significantly increased production speed at the 13-staff site. John E Wright is currently recruiting two more members of staff to cope with increased productivity.
Barnett said that business opportunities for the exhibition, sign and display company in Hull, which will be the UK City of Culture in 2017, were expanding rapidly.
The company produces signage, hoardings and display boards for retailers, blue chip companies, ACE (architecture, construction and engineering) businesses and heritage organisations including Vision Express, Rolls Royce, Intu shopping centre group and the National Trust. 70% of its output is wide-format.
Barnett said high-profile clients “expect everything to be just right”.
“Hull is actually the seventh biggest city in the country, there’s lots of investment going into the area. It’s our fastest growing operation and has grown a third in the last two years. We’re really investing in Hull.”
The company installed an Océ Arizona GT 350 printer in the spring, which cost £120,000. It also runs several HP latex printers.
“The outdoor signage market loves UV cure technology and UV technology needs a proper cutter,” Barnett said, adding that he also liked the Prepare-it automated workflow software that comes with the table.
“It works at speed and gives a perfect edge. All our edges are far sharper than the competition.”
Technical director Alan Edwards said the significant reduction in time needed to prepare files for ripping and cutting had led to a massive increase in productivity and a much lower waste percentage.
Hull's Zünd G3 features the same software and is expected to deliver equally impressive results.
Formerly the business did vinyl cutting on a Mimaki CG-130 FXII cutter but all other cutting and trimming was completed by hand
The machine has a 1Kw router, which allows it to handle thicker substrates popular for signage, such as Dibond, MDF, Forex and acrylic up to 30mm thick.
Additionally, Zünd UK supplied the new Zünd G3 with PackZ software, enabling John E Wright to expand its Hull services with packaging mock-ups and other new products.
The manufacturer said that, in common with all Zünd systems, the Zünd G3 L-2500 has a modular design to enable a unique configuration to be created for every user and for it to be retrofittable with new tools or technology.
Hull manager Andy Magson said the new technology had saved his site hours each day.
John E Wright is a family business founded in 1900 by John Wright, Barnett's great grandfather. When Barnett took over 15 years ago he decided to appoint a professional management structure and has grown the business four-fold.
The company reported a £5.4m tunover in its 2014 calendar year accounts but is expecting a £7m turnover by the current year end. It has added £1.2m of sales from the Hull operation which was formerly a joint venture and not included.
Barnett bought out his former partner earlier this year.
