A new trade printer has performed so well it has added a production device and raised its turnover forecast by up to 20%.
Large Format Media started trading in early 2013 as Perth's "first trade-only large-format printer".
Owner Rod Wood said then that he expected the firm to turn over $700,000 in its first 12 months. He told ProPrint that business had been going so strongly he had added 15-20% to the forecast, which would push LF Media above the $800,000 mark.
Wood said the trade supplier had landed a new client last week that would be ordering 300-1,000sqm per month of printing. That could generate $20,000 of income per month, he added.
He also said he had been pleasantly surprised that LF Media had landed clients from New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland, because it had only marketed to printers in Western Australia.
[Review: LF Media installs a SwissQprint Impala]
The rise in orders prompted LF Media to install a Roland DG Soljet Pro4 XF-640 this week. The wide-format printer joins a SwissQprint Impala on the factory floor.
"We've got plenty on and were starting to get bogged down, so we decided to get another machine to complement the SwissQprint. Some days we were having to work too many hours to get jobs done."
Wood said the XF-640 stood out because of its "speed and quality" and would help LF Media turn around most jobs in 48 hours.
"We really needed a production-speed machine. It also had the ability to blend with our Caldera RIP which we run on the SwissQprint."
LF Media's expansion in the past six months has also resulted in a rise in headcount from four to six and a doubling of its floor space to 680sqm. The firm is now running at about 65% capacity, he said.
LF Media's machinery line-up also includes a Miller Weldmaster, Graphtec FC8000 cutting plotter and Tekcel CNC router. A PrintCost MIS was also installed in August.
Meanwhile, Roland DG sales manager Greg Stone told ProPrint that LF Media had made a great decision by investing in the XF-640.
“As a new Roland user, this latest generation device will certainly provide the reliability and increased output capability that LF Media were looking for – they will be able to print a wide variety of profitable applications with the XF and we hope they have great success through this investment," he said.
[Related: More WA news]
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