The 25-staff Slough business, which was originally established in 1978 by Vince Murphy as Bullseye Awards and Garments, took delivery of the machine in December but has only now revealed the details of its investment.
It said the 3.2m-wide Agfa Avinci CX3200 dye-sub printer is offering the business “triple the output” of its predecessor. The company also runs printers from HP and Canon, and a Zünd cutter, among other kit.
Marketing director Jack Murphy, one of Vince’s two sons (the other, Joe Murphy, heads up sales), said: “We are really pleased with the results from our first Agfa print engine. Our old dye-sub machine needed replacing with repair bills growing each year, so our raw material supplier suggested we talk to Agfa.
“We knew what the business wanted, we’ve purchased many machines over the years, so I asked Agfa lots of technical questions and their replies came back immediately, I suppose it’s the benefit of dealing directly with the manufacturer.
“I had looked at other suppliers, ones that we are more familiar with, and there were cheaper machines available, but they were going to be more expensive to run. Agfa has a good reputation and the Avinci delivers what we need.”
The Avinci CX3200 is a roll-to-roll device that can print both directly to textile and transfer paper, at a speed of up to 270sqm/hr. As well as being faster than previous dye-sub kit used by the company, the machine is more reliable and, having the offline fixation, doesn’t waste as much material.
It’s also more energy efficient and features the Agfa ‘Thin Ink Layer’ technology, resulting in very low ink consumption.
Murphy added: “Moving to a new supplier was a big decision for us, most of our machines are modular which means our operators can repair them and yet Agfa engines are close-down machines, so you must rely on an Agfa engineer to fix them.
“We know that all machines with moving parts will at some time need fixing and it’s how responsive the supplier is at these times that’s important. But as promised, Marcus, our closest Agfa engineer, has been very responsive throughout the installation and training and we have faith that will continue when other issues occur.
“Overall, the whole experience in buying from Agfa has been very impressive and we are very happy with our decision.”
The company said it is now keen to promote the eco benefits of its new machine and what it can offer, moving customers away from PVC and on to using dye-sub fabrics for POS that are easy to post and reduce single-use plastic. It is also intending to target the soft furnishing interiors market.
The business, which previously specialised in the production of trophies and awards, still produces the annual BBC Sports Personality Award to this day. But it said diversifying has aided its growth and it finished 2022 with a turnover of £3.2m – its best year to date.
