Bubble wrap, ultra thin plastic and melamine tabletops are just some of the left-field items John Fisher Printing is running through its EFI Vutek GS3200 wide format printer. The Sydney printer has held an open house to show off the new print possibilities with the Vutek’s cool cure technology, and for the first time in almost 60 years of operations has printed a brochure to detail the range. Tony Fisher, director of POS visual displays and packaging with John Fisher Printing, says the machine is now bedded in after its installation six months ago and the company is busy promoting the applications to its customers.
Tony Fisher, director of POS visual displays and packaging with John Fisher Printing
He tells AP, “We have amped up our website so it has a lot of different eco-friendly products to show the different marketing solutions we can provide for our customers, or if they are an agency, their customers. “We are able to print on a lot more substrates with the LED cool cure technology, amazing products like bubble wrap, ultra thin LDP plastic, reflective mirror surfaces and electronic switch membranes that are susceptible to heat.” He says the Vutek is now John Fisher’s main production machine, in tandem with the company’s two five-colour offset printers. He says, “There are few printers in Australia who have this kind of machinery, combined with offset. This allows us to run campaigns for retail across multiple platforms – we can run small format to A1 offset, then run the same campaign on wide format. “DES, who sold us the Vutek, has also carried out the colour calibration for both the offset and inkjet machines, so each retail campaign that goes out matches across all the media – not only is the print high quality but the colours do not differ in store.”
Live music at the open house
At the open house visitors were given the debut brochure and a sample of bubble wrap printed with snowflakes for Christmas. Fisher says this application has potential to be more than just a gimmick, he says, “It will only take one person to say: that is what I want. “There could well be a market for this in internet ordering, where some of that personal feeling has come out of the shopping experience. The internet providers can actually wrap it and personalise it, with campaigns for Mothers Day, Fathers Day, Christmas, to get the customer feeling more involved.” Fisher says the Vutek installation has led to increased business in other areas, and the company can sell more short run jobs more cost effectively with better margins. He says, “When we decided to go into this kind of machinery we wanted to do it the right way, for our clients. “We now offer not only speed but printing on a lot of different products means we can cater for their future needs as well as the print we are doing for them today.”
Comment below to have your say on this story.
If you have a news story or tip-off, get in touch at editorial@sprinter.com.au.
Sign up to the Sprinter newsletter
