Third-generation commercial printer Colemans Print & Signage (Coleman) has installed a Summa F1832 cutting table, the largest of its kind in Australia, and the first table in the Northern Territory.
The table was installed through Pozitive, who won the exclusive distributorship for Summa last year, bringing the range to Visual Impact for display.
Colemans operates out of Alice Springs in NT, with 25 years of experience in the rural town, with its main print site based in Darwin. It has 36 employees between the two, and also has the only A1 press in NT, a Heidelberg.
It has increasingly been shifting towards signage in the Territory to fill the gaps that come with less commercial print work for its A1 press.
Owner Tony Coleman explains, “are now focusing more on the digital side, from Indigo presses to signage.
The only way we will survive as printers, especially myself, is with on-demand print. I can not compete with the Blue Stars and the big guys down south, so we do not bother. We are very focused on the on-demand work.
“Our A1 press has over the years gotten less and less work on it, we needed something to fill the gap. That has been signage, to the point where we are a bit of trade printer for printers around Australia. Freight for signage is a fair cost, so we supply wide format print into the Territory, avoiding the expensive cost for delivery.
“This is the first cutting table that we have owned. I see signage for us as being a growth area, and we had one to two guys cutting by hand all day every day, getting frustrated with that. At Visual Impact Sydney last year we attended with a focus to invest in a table.
“The machine is so hungry that it is doing two to three days work in a couple of hours. It has given us a huge amount of capacity, and allowed us to grow the signage side of the business much faster.
“I believe it is also the biggest Summa cutter in Australia, and the only cutter in the Territory.
“That went in three weeks ago now, so it is still brand new. The former cutters are excited to do other things, as opposed to being stuck at a table all day. Now they help with installations, and can help out with the signage print. It has not taken away their job, only opened them up to do other things."
Check out the upcoming edition of Australian Printer for an exclusive interview with Summa executive Wim Maes, and Pozitive managing director Phil Trumble
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