Delta, the print arm, underpins the lot, managing the printing and production of marketing materials and also specialising in 3D cardboard engineering and permanent campaigns.
The main printing base is in Walthamstow, north London, in a custom-built site of more than 28,000m2, opened in 2012. This operates mainly screen and offset presses and is also the group’s collation, finishing, warehousing and distribution base. Some large-format digital presses are also operated from the group’s Leeds and Dublin offices.
In the summer of 2014 Delta invested about £1m in a pair of Durst large-format inkjets, a Rhotex 322 textile printer used for soft signage, (the subject of this feature) and a Rho 312R general-purpose roll-fed UV machine. These went into Walthamstow, joining more than 80 other print and finishing machines.
Since then the company has continued to add kit, signing up for two HP Scitex 11000 flatbed printers and another Durst, a Rho 512R roll-to-roll machine, at Fespa in May.
Previously Delta Group had mainly used HP large-format inkjets, says operations director Martin Shipp. “We were known as an HP house for a long time and, in fairness, on our flatbed digital devices we still are. We were the world’s largest owners of the FB7600, with seven, and are currently Europe’s largest on the new FB11000 platform.”
To make room for the two new Dursts, Delta took out a pair of HP printers, an XL2700 and an XL5300.
Changing needs
Delta already had experience of Durst through its Lambda film recorders, according to Shipp: “We have been friends of Durst for many years with our Lambdas and it was through that relationship we learned about the 312 and 322 models.”
The Rhotex 322 in particular is intended to help Delta increase its presence in ‘soft signage’, ie printed textile displays that may be stretched onto frames or lightboxes, or hung as drapes.
The big advantage of textiles in comparison with paper signage or display boards is that they are easy and robust to transport, erect, remove, roll up and re-use. They are also washable and creases can be easily ironed out.
“We had a limited offering for soft signage in the form of UV, latex and dye-sublimation presses, which were not quite hitting the speed and quality we required,” says Shipp. “The Rhotex 322 turned ‘limited’ into being ‘substantial’ with exceptional quality.
“For the group as a whole, we consider it to be a business critical concern to stay abreast of technical advances to ensure we continuously drive efficiency, quality and speed to market for our customers – especially when considering the end-to-end creative solution we can provide, from creative concept and build, all the way through to physical print and output.”
“The Rhotex investment is just one expression of this – a high-quality machine that enables us to offer a flexible and efficient solution to our clients to match their changing business needs, as well as answering environmental and cost considerations to meet client demands for reusable, soft signage installations.”
To support the increased push into textile work Delta also installed a pair of automated sewing machines. “We previously used a standard sewing machine to finish the fabric graphics,” says Shipp. “The two automated sewing lines greatly improve quality, consistency and throughput. Hems, pockets, Kedar and other mechanical edging systems enable the fabric to form great POS solutions such as flags, light box graphics and hanging displays.”
Readers who were around in the days of film and darkrooms will remember Durst Phototechnik as a maker of high-quality enlargers and accessories. In the 1990s Durst developed its Lambda series of large-format, high-resolution full-colour digital silver halide film recorders. These sold well into photolabs and some repro houses and allowed Durst to successfully break into the high-end backlit digital display market.
It was well into the 2000s before inkjets became good enough to rival the quality of backlit silver halide films, but Durst had already seen the writing on the wall and developed its own high-end, high-quality industrial-class inkjets, which it usually markets under the ‘Rho’ moniker or a variant thereof.
Although Durst is based in Italy, its inkjets are developed and built in its purpose-built factory in Lienz, Austria. Starting from a base of UV flatbeds and roll-fed printers, it has diversified its range into industrial-class printers of labels, ceramics, glass and textiles.
The Rhotex 322 was introduced by Durst at the end of 2013, for companies such as Delta that want to diversify and enter the textile market. It takes rolls of textile up to 3.2m wide and 2mm thick. It has 16 printheads, running at between 80m2 and 140m2 per hour depending on the quality setting, with a standard resolution of 400x600dpi.
It prints on fabrics constituted of at least 50% polyester, although other materials are printable within certain limitations.
For more dedicated textile operations Durst offers the much faster but pricier Rhotex HS, which has 32 printheads and runs between 230m2 and 430m2 per hour with a wider choice of resolutions.
Friendly inks
Durst developed its own water-based Rhotex dispersion inks for this family of printers. They are odourless, “skin-friendly,” recyclable and free of VOCs, according to the maker. The printers’ QuadroZ printhead technology gives variable droplet sizes between 7 and 21 picolitres on textiles, allowing greyscale tonal variation.
Delta’s other Durst acquisition, the Rho 312R, is a versatile roll-fed UV-cured printer that takes roll up to 3.2m wide but can also run two 1.6m rolls in parallel. It runs at up to 240m2 per hour at 900dpi. It uses Durst Quadro 12M greyscale heads and can run six colours.
This is being used for a wide variety of work, says Shipp. “It’s very difficult to pin down the exact type of work that it is doing because the machine is so diverse. One hour it can be producing high-speed large-format banners the next some high-end in-store graphics.”
Delta did consider other options, says Shipp: “HP had been pushing us down the route for Latex, but that wasn’t suitable for our purposes. We’d also looked at Vutek, but, in all truth, we felt the servicing wasn’t to the level we require. Durst has a great reputation and has always been on our radar. We haven’t been disappointed.”
As to how the machine has performed, Shipp is unequivocal. “Exceptionally well,” he says. “We were running live orders on the third day and the great customer service from Durst helped us to ramp up our production very quickly.
“As with any new system, there’s bound to be some minor niggles and a learning curve, but nothing really.
“The service has been very good on the rare times we’ve needed it,” he adds.
Shipp is very happy with the Rhotex 322, though less happy about endorsing it for other print firms: “This is an outstanding printing system. Yes, I would use it again, but, no, I wouldn’t recommend it to others because I don’t want anyone else to enjoy the advantages!”
SPECIFICATIONS
Max printing width 3,200mm
Printheads 16 Durst QuadroZ
Resolution 400x600dpi standard (1,200dpi equivalent)
Colours CMYK (optional: light cyan, light magenta, light black and spot colours)
Inks Aqueous-based dispersed dye, odour-free, recyclable, “skin-friendly” and VOC-free
Throughput Up to 140m2/hr
Footprint 1,670x6,800mm
Weight 4,500kg
RIP Caldera Grand Rip+ with Easy Media
Price Between £285,000 and £345,000, depending on configuration
Contact Durst 01372 388540 www.durst.it
Company profile
The Delta Group is a visual communications specialist that provides campaign management for retailers, brands, and entertainment companies. The customer base is diverse, but falls into three main groups – retailers, brands, and entertainment companies. They are all sizes but in the main they are large multi-national clients that need large UK- or Europe-wide roll-outs.
Founded in 1991 by Mike Phillips and Jason Auluk, Delta Group has grown from a small screen and litho printer to an international group of design, printing, logistics and installation companies with 620 employees and a turnover of over £70m.
Why it was bought...
Delta was keen to extend its “limited” soft signage offering, but was determined not to compromise on quality. “The obvious benefits are the quality and throughput, which the machine is capable of, and excels in,” says operations director Martin Shipp.
“However, one real big, positive that we didn’t expect is in the instances of press passing: achieving the required quality and colour so many times on the first pull. I never envisaged it’d be that good.”
How it has performed...
“Exceptionally well,” says Shipp. “We were running live orders on the third day and the great service from Durst helped us to ramp up production very quickly.
“The 322 has given us a dramatic uplift in firepower and now provides alternative solutions we couldn’t offer before. For example, POS, signage in stores and more environmentally friendly products.”
