Currie Group presents EFI at Open House week

Currie Group had a fully booked week for its first EFI Open House, with printers from both the commercial and the sign and display sectors coming over to its Hawthorn demonstration centre for the event.

Paul Whitehead, business unit manager, Wide Format, at Currie Group, said, “It was a real mix, some companies had vast experience in wide format, some were not even in wide format, but were attracted by Currie Group now being in the market. It was great to be back to in-person events, everyone appreciated being able to meet and talk.”

During the sessions, which ran all week, visitors were taken through Currie Group’s headquarters, and shown the Currie Care Centre service capability, the Currie Training Centre, as well as the demonstration centre, where an EFI Pro 32r+ roll-to-roll LED UV 3.2m wide printer was put through its paces.

Whitehead said, “Visitors really appreciated getting an understanding of Currie Group’s service ethos. We have a 70 year track record, we have service engineers located around Australia and new Zealand, and some 60 of our approximately 90 staff are engaged in service related functions.

“Both commercial and sign and display printers can have confidence that Currie Group understands complex high-end equipment, and understands the needs of print businesses. We have multiple HP Indigo presses running around the country. We know the importance of maximising uptime.”

Currie Group has cloud-based connection to the EFI printers, enabling it to be proactive with service requirements. Parts are a maximum of 24 hours away, but in most cases much less than that, as Currie Group carries the major parts in its warehouses.

The demonstration centre itself was a case study in wide format graphics, with wall graphics, window graphics and floor graphics in clear sight, all printed by ADS Australia on its EFI Vutek h5.

The EFI Pro 32r+ in the demonstration centre is classed by EFI as entry level, although Whitehead says, “That is relative, at three tonnes and able to pump out 256sqm an hour, for many printers that is industrial scale.”

The LED UV printer is available as roll-to-roll, hybrid or flatbed, its LED means low power consumption. It will print one 3.2m wide or two 1.6m rolls at once, from media rolls weighing up to 200kg.

It can print double sided, putting down up to five layers in a single pass, so image, white, black, white, image, which Whitehead says, “gives perfect register.”.

In a competitive market Whitehead said “EFI stands out because of its end-to-end approach. We came from the Fiery rip, we understand colour fidelity, consistency, vibrancy, and ink economy. EFI actually manufactures all its own inks, which are all 3M and Greenguard Gold certified. The hardware comes from best-in-class technology. Allied with the Currie Group service capability it is a compelling proposition.”

Whitehead also pointed out to visitors the soft signage capability of the EFI Pro 32r+, which he said was close to dye sub. He said, “Having the ability to print soft signage is a real bonus. The market is growing, and there is no cracking of the image or the ink when the fabric is folded from this printer.”

The EFI Pro 32r+ can print double strike on soft signage, which Whitehead pointed out to visitors gives depth and avoids the image looking washed out when in a lightbox.

Whitehead said, “The Open House week showed the appetite there is for large format graphics. Post-Covid volumes will definitely come back. Every business and organisation in the country now knows about the benefits of floor graphics. Billboard and outdoor print cycles are coming down, and brands are realising that digital signage means your message will be missed by a number of people if it is out of rotation at the time they go past, whereas print has permanency.

“We will also see an increase in visual merchandising in shops, as retailers look to give their customers a brand experience, to differentiate themselves from online shopping.”

Currie Group is now supplying the entire range of EFI wide format print solutions, which comes in at approaching 50 different models.