The deal was revealed to PrintWeek today (15 May) as Fujifilm gave the Acuity Ultra its official unveiling at Fespa 2018 in Berlin, which runs until this Friday.
The 5m device being shown on the manufacturer's stand will be taken down after the event and installed at Echo House’s 2,300sqm Surbiton facility in around two to three weeks.
“Throughout my career I have always looked at technology and I have experience in buying the right equipment at the right time and I see this as a good investment,” Echo House technical director Peter Onyskiw told PrintWeek.
He added: “We live and breathe quality; everyone wants to be the best and we believe we are – we really do produce ultra high-quality work.”
Onyskiw said that the new Acuity Ultra, which has a starting price of €360,000 for a standard 5m model, has been bought as an addition to Echo House’s existing kit, including two EFI GS LX Pro devices, an EFI Vutek 5r, a Fujifilm Acuity flatbed device and a range of Canon inkjet printers.
The main attraction, according to Onyskiw, was the 3.5 picolitre drop-size which he said would provide “much higher quality than anything else out there”. The company produces work for major luxury retail brands and Onyskiw, who joined Echo House five years ago, said quality was key.
Announced at the end of April, Fujifilm’s new Acuity Ultra is built around its UV cured inkjet technologies and offers “almost photographic levels of quality” with tighter registration and higher production speeds, according to the manufacturer. It is targeted at the high-end indoor display market, particularly those working with luxury brands.
It is available in 5m- and 3.2m-wide models with up to eight colour channels - CMYK, light cyna, light magenta and two white channels - and uses a new, high-quality, low film-weight Uvijet GS Fujifilm ink designed to deliver the highest quality and is fully emission-compliant for interior graphic display work.
The device can run at speeds of up to 236sqm/hr and is able to print on three rolls simultaneously, handling a substrate thickness from 0.1mm to 2mm. Its vacuum table is water-cooled ensuring no excessive heat build-up on the print plate and therefore no shrinkage.
“Echo House has been a valued customer of Fujifilm for a number of years and we’re delighted now to be providing them with a solution to take their large format graphics production up yet another level,” said marketing applications manager for Fujifilm Speciality Ink Systems, Kevin Rhodes.
“With the ability to print at production speeds in excess of 200sqm per hour, at a 3.5pl drop size, the Acuity Ultra is set to revolutionise the large format, high-end interior graphics marketplace and we’re delighted that Echo House has been the first to recognise its tremendous potential.”
