Broadening its range of products and services to the trade, the Melbourne-based print embellishing company picks Vutek and Mimaki to kick start its new venture.
Three new Mimaki wide format inkjets – two LED UV flatbeds and a roll fed eco-solvent printer – along with a Vutek QS 2000 and a Summa cutter have transformed the Avon Graphics business in Melbourne. In its first move into digital technology, one of Australia’s most recognised trade suppliers of specialized processes is looking to embellish its own reputation as a wide format supplier.
Better known for its award winning foil stamping, embossing, laser cutting, laminating and texturing, Avon Graphics addressed its ‘slow-process’ market by looking to see what else it could offer its customers. According to Tate Hone, national sales manager, wide-format printing for ‘trade only’ proved to be a logical step.
“We‘re excited to be dealing in the digital market. We looked long and hard at different options and spoke to a number of our customers before deciding wide format was a service we could provide,” he said.
With the first Vutek going in late last year the uptake has exceeded expectations. The plan was to double capacity within 12 months but the business is now up to four inkjet machines already. Speed to market is a major factor in the new enterprise.
“It’s been great for us. We set up a special department where clients can come and print their own samples to show customers. They still place orders with the same staff. They know us.”
Hone believes the industry trusts Avon Graphics as a ‘trade only’ wide format supplier building on its reputation over many years. It is an extension of the type of service the company has fulfilled for many years.
He is full of praise for the Mimaki LED machine. “We felt that the Mimaki technology allowed us to produce the quality that printers expect. The variable ink droplet size meant that we could offer the best quality while still maintaining the speed needed to meet market demand.
“The LED cold cure system allows us to run stocks like polypropylene without having to worry about heat curl, which has been an issue in the past. Also, the taint or smell of the inks with conventional UV has sometimes dictated that in store prints had to be laminated. The LED cured Mimaki inks have no odour,” he said.