Paul and Eliza Bourke, owners of Kwik Kopy Taren Point, are the new owners of a Ricoh Ri 100 direct to garment printer after winning a competition by explaining how the press would complement an existing mug press at their Sydney business.

On the entry form completed at a Kwik Kopy conference in Victoria, Eliza Bourke said in under 25 words how she would also use the compact, four colour press to print staff uniforms to further promote her business.

The press, which can reproduce photographic imagery on fabrics with over 50 per cent cotton content, is up and running and Bourke said a number of t-shirt orders had already come through.

“It’s been great so far, now our customers know we have got the press they are definitely interested in ordering small run items,” Bourke said.

The Ri 100, with a resolution of up to 1200 dpi, can be used to create high quality, one-of-a-kind t-shirts, children’s clothing, pillow cases, cushion covers and calico bags. Whether a run-length of one or multiple items, the Ri 100 offers a unique proposition for on-demand garment printing.

Ricoh Account Manager for Commercial and Industrial Print Clay Phillips said the Ri 100 fits the bill for printers that are often approached to turnaround a small number of jobs in a tight timeframe.

“It’s designed to sit in that sweet spot between where a customer needs to send something away and get a few hundred of them printed which will take weeks and the customers who have got few jobs that need to be done right now,” Phillips said.

“For example a real estate company that has an open house on the weekend, or a business where they are putting a team in the local fun run, corporate events, trade shows. They can use it for pretty much on the spot and that 10 to 20 or 30 items at a time is spot on for it.”

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