There are multiple pros and cons to outsourcing print jobs. For starters, you don’t have to splash out thousands of pounds on buying and installing a new machine – and finding someone to operate it. Then you’ve got the additional ongoing cost of consumables and maintaining the machine. 

On the flip side outsourcing is typically more expensive on a per-job basis, you can’t fully control the quality of work produced and you have the inefficiencies of shipping a job out and waiting for it to be shipped back again. 

These are the sort of issues Spelsberg UK weighed up when it considered whether or not to bring its print requirements in-house. Historically, the Telford-based company, which is a division of German industrial enclosure manufacturer Spelsberg, was importing custom-printed parts from its European parent company or from UK-based printers.

Typically, customers required branding, contact information and safety or instructional information to be printed directly onto the enclosures, which include junction boxes, terminal blocks and meter housings. But the delivery times were an issue and sometimes customers were waiting four weeks or longer for a printed sample, according to Chris Lloyd, managing director at Spelsberg UK.

So the UK division decided to copy the setup of its German parent company and began exploring the option of purchasing a Mimaki UJF-6042 MkII e flatbed UV inkjet printer; its parent company installed two of the same Mimaki machines a couple of years ago.

So, Spelsberg visited Mimaki reseller CMYUK’s showroom in Shrewsbury to see the machine in operation and to test it out on its enclosure lids and other items. 

The team were won over by what they saw and in May last year the new Mimaki machine was installed in Spelsberg UK’s factory, joining the company’s CNC router which it also uses to customise enclosures. 

Shane McNally, Spelsberg UK’s print operator, says the installation of the new machine went smoothly with the company simply rejigging its assembly room to accommodate it. “The machine was delivered and then later on that week an installer from CMYUK came along and installed it in one day,” recalls McNally. 

He says he wasn’t daunted about the prospect of using the new machine despite the fact he had no print experience and had never used a machine similar to this in the past. 

“This is the very first machine of this type that I’ve ever used so it’s been a brand new experience for me,” says McNally. “After it was installed and up and running the installer ran us through how to use the Mimaki in terms of the different settings and how to change the height of the bed and all that kind of thing. The training was really good and the machine has been pretty easy to use. It’s all really well set up and easy to follow.”

The UJF-6042 MkII e is one of a series of four direct-to-object printers launched by Mimaki in September 2021. The machines are capable of printing onto a wide variety of soft and hard media, including leather, wood, acrylic, metal and glass. The UJF-6042 MkII e offers a print size of 610x420mm and features Mimaki device language (MDL) commands support, which enables automated workpiece transfer. 

The new model also incorporate RasterLink7 as standard RIP software, which supports one-product-at-a-time printing and makes numbering and variable data printing easier.

Lloyd says one of the key upsides of the machine is its ability to print onto 20 different lids, depending on the sizes, with 20 different logos in a single pass.

Thanks to this level of flexibility the machine has been a massive hit with McNally and with the firm’s customers who love what it’s capable of producing.

“We have sent out samples of what we can do to them and more and more of them have taken up the option to get their branding on our boxes,” he explains. “The customers give us the labels they want us to print, whether that’s just a simple warning label, a company logo or something more specific, and we can turn them around really quickly.” 

Although the machine has been a godsend for the business McNally admits the company did experience a few early teething problems as typically happens with most new machines. 

“We did have a issue where we had a little bit of misting at the back of the print bed on certain jobs, but we got in touch with CMYUK who put us in touch with Hybrid [Mimaki’s UK and Ireland distributor] and a Hybrid engineer came out and solved the issue and it’s been absolutely flawless since,” says McNally.

“We did also have a little bit of an issue with colouring as well – there were a few lines going through the print – but again, Hybrid came out and fixed it, so the support has been really good. We’ve been using it flat out since the issues; it’s barely been switched off and we haven’t had any further problems.”

McNally says bringing printing in-house has paid off on a number of different levels for the business. “For starters, it allows us to offer our customers the option of customisation and putting their branding or logos on the enclosures, which has been really popular.

“And doing it in-house rather than outsourcing the printing of the label to someone else has really cut the cost to customers down and it’s really helped cut down on things like the manual labour of sticking the label on lids.”

So, the new machines has expanded the company’s service offer, helped cut costs for its customers, speeded up the production process and in doing so it has helped the business increase turnover. As a result, it comes as little surprise to hear McNally wouldn’t hesitate recommending the machine to someone else.

“I absolutely would,” he says. “The quality of it is really impressive and the speed is impressive. Also, I still can’t get my head around the ink usage and how little the cost associated with that ink usage is. So, I would certainly recommend it. It’s a really good machine.” 

SPECIFICATIONS

Printheads On-demand piezo

Max print resolution 1,200x1,200dpi

Max printable area 610x420mm 

Max media thickness 153mm 

Power consumption 1,000W or less

Footprint 1.6x1.3m

Weight 150kg

Price Around £30,000

Contact 0118 989 2929 www.cmyuk.com

COMPANY PROFILE

Spelsberg UK is based in Telford and employs 13 people. It is the UK division of German industrial enclosure manufacturer Spelsberg. The company has been around for more than 119 years and is a leading manufacturer in the electrical industry, serving the electrical installation and enclosure technology sectors. 

Why it was bought... 

Prior to installing the machine the company was receiving print either from its parent company in Germany or it was outsourcing the work to UK suppliers. 

How it has performed...

Since it was installed McNally says the machine has brought the company a number of different benefits. In addition to allowing Spelsberg UK to bring print in-house reducing lead times, it’s enabled the company to offer customers new services and it’s helped to increase turnover.