Melbourne trade-printer Mezographic is the first company in Australia to purchase the latest Durst workhorse, the P5 250HS, making a major million dollar investment, with its machine to be showcased at PrintEx in August.
It is capable of pushing out some 200 boards per hour, with a print quality that the company calls ‘incredible’ at high-speeds.
Frank Mezo, the founder of Mezographic, first caught a glimpse of the machine at the Durst production facility in Lienz, while being shown a different printer in 2018.
“While I was there, I saw the P5 in beta stage, and saw some prints lying around there,” he explains.
“The quality was like nothing I had ever seen. It piqued my interest, particularly with the expected speeds, so I kept in touch with them about where it was developmentally.
“Before we went to test it at Fespa this year, I did my due diligence and had a look at what other people had.
“I decided the machine that I was initially interested in was still the one that came in ahead, and it came down to a combination of quality and speed.
“The quality is like no production machine I’ve ever seen. The prints look like they have come off a machine that will print five boards an hour, but it has just printed 100.
“Even in its fastest mode, printing 200 boards an hour, the print quality is still good, there is not a massive sacrifice. That is what drew me to it.”
Durst offered Mezo a final sign off of the press before the deal was done. As a result, he saw first hand the output of his exact machine.
“The speeds were actually better than what was originally promised,” explains Mezo.
“I was pleasantly surprised, they actually over delivered, which is an experience we have never had before. It is generally the other way around.”
Mezographic calls itself 95 per cent trade, with print management businesses its main source of work.
Primarily operating in the point of sale (POS) space, most of its work is based in Melbourne, with a few Sydney clients. There are no immediate plans for opening a new site, as Mezo notes, “We run a lean ship. I do not want to create more costs, and we are happy to work out of here.”
With cameras set up in the press room, the devices can be viewed by Mezo remotely, he can log in to the system and watch how the work is progressing.
Stepping into the press room, it is constantly kept cool. Climate control is achieved through multiple air-conditioning units, constantly recirculating the air, while the walls and ceilings have been insulated to keep everything running optimally.
Mezo explains, “The presses run best at a certain temperature, with climate control helping to control quality. You are only as good as the last job you did, and people will remember a bad job more than the hundreds of good jobs. It is very important.”
Mezographic has integrated all its machinery using GMG colour control, to keep the output consistent across different devices, supplied by different vendors.
From passion to purpose
Investing a cool $1.2m in your business is not a decision anyone would take lightly — but for Mezo, it is not the hardest decision he has ever had to make.
What really made him lose sleep was a $110,000 decision at the turn of the century, borrowing money to buy his first digital printer in the year 2000.
“It was the scariest money I have ever borrowed, and we really took a gamble. Within a year though, we bought another one.”
To understand the perils of that decision, you have to go back to where Mezo started his career.
“I originally got into screen printing while I was in college. It was a way to supplement my income while doing an arts degree.
“In the end, I found an apprenticeship with APG, one of the big screen printing display companies in the 80s. It was a brilliant place to work and learn, and the family that ran it were fantastic people. I was very lucky.
“It was during the late 80s and early 90s that I started buying screen printing equipment from auctions.
“A lot of places were unfortunately going down, so I would go to auctions and buy bits and pieces.
“I bought my first press at an auction in Geelong for $150. I went there with no intention of buying anything, but when the bidding stopped at $100, I put my hand up.
“I was with my uncle and the time, and he turned to me and said, ‘Your old man is going to kill me’. I had no idea where we were going to put it.”
Sold for cheap because it was not operational, it turned out the only thing wrong with the press was a fuse. One quick fix later, and Mezo had a working device.
“That was my first press, and I started working out of my dad’s garage, producing bits and pieces for local sign writers.
“I bought my first factory in Hampton Park, that was 300sqm, before my first home. I lived with my parents for the next six years, while married, to try and establish myself.”
Sink or swim
Using his new device, Mezo started boutique screen printing bike helmets for two of the three major manufacturers in Australia.
“We won a few awards for them as it was specialised, fine detail work in the pre-distortion printing era,” he explains.
Towards the end of the 1990s, and early 2000s, both of those companies shut their local operations and started importing from China. This meant that Mezo suddenly had no business.
He recalls, “My business was built around producing those items for them, so I had to either get back into POS screen printing, investing in multi-colour presses, or digital printing.
“I decided to enter digital, and bought my first serious printer, a UV flatbed in 2000. The Display Maker 72UVR was incredible, it changed us.”
The $110k investment that he agonised over turned out to be a successful springboard into the world of digital print. One year later, Mezographic purchased a second.
“Ironically, the helmet work going to China was the best thing that ever happened to me,” notes Mezo.
“It forced me to change, and to become an early adopter of digital.
“From there, we moved to our second factory, and not long after that moved to our current location. I have no grand ambitions for moving again.”
Investing in the best
Part of Mezographic’s success comes from not taking its position lightly. For Mezo, this means constantly reinvesting in the business, staying on top of trends, and selecting the best equipment.
This allows it to offer the quality its customers expect, and turnaround times that keep them coming back.
It is the first company in Australia to purchase the latest Durst workhorse, the P5 250HS, capable of pushing out some 200 boards per hour, with a print quality that belies its speed.
The incoming P5 is not the company’s first from Durst, having purchased the Rho 512 a little under three years ago.
It is Mezographic’s main roll-to-roll printer, with the company able to set up 450m rolls to run without intervention.
As a POS-focused shop, Mezographic has also invested in 3D rendering software, KaseMake.
With it, they can create 3D models of the displays, and send them to the client for approval without having to create a printed prototype. Saving time, resources and money, this also shortens the approval cycle, with multiple rounds of changes able to be made in consultation with the customer.
“Rather than cutting something out, printing it, and having a week before the client receives it and gets back to you, this makes it all much faster,” explains Mezo.
“It is very handy as a service we provide in house.”
For smaller jobs, the company runs a set of Mimaki UCJV300 printer/cutters.
As seen at PrintEx
Mezographic’s P5 was on display at PrintEx, taking a prominent position on the Durst stand, R28.
As a trade printer, it means that Mezographic’s customers were able to see the print quality it is capable of first hand.
Matt Ashman, Durst, says, “We are pleased to be continuing our strong relationship with Mezographic. Frank has always been an innovator, and in choosing the new P5 he is continuing that strategy. This is the first time Durst has exhibited at the PrintEx Show. Durst has been manufacturing high end bespoke equipment for over 80 years, from the Northern Italian HQ in Bressanone/Brixen. At Durst we understand the challenges and opportunities that can arise for all different kinds of businesses, and we aim to have solutions tailored to solve those challenges and to win those opportunities. With the advent of the modern Digital workflow we have solutions from Pixel to Print.
“The P5 250 HS offers three-quarter automation for maximum workflow and production, printing up to 2.5m wide at speeds of 600sqm/h, with a resolution of 1200 dpi and 5 picolitre drop size. Combined with the latest UV print and ink technology this device delivers the ultimate solution for quality and speed.
“The Tau RSC 330 E, with an actual resolution of 1200 x 1200 dpi and 2 picolitre drop size, exceptional print quality at a high speed of 52 lineal metres per minute, including white. The Tau RSC generation also offers the potential to upgrade, enhancing speed on site with one click. The Tau has many options and solutions to satisfy all your label production requirements.
“Visitor were able to see the introduction of two new presses, the P5 250 HS and the TAU RSC 330 E for high speed label production. Both were running live every day.”
Value gained from travel
As a regular attendee of print shows around the world, Mezo says networking with printers from other countries allows Mezographic to stay current, and gain knowledge.
“In a lot of ways, Australia is as up-to-date and advanced as anywhere in the world, but there are worldwide trends we always seek to stay on top of,” he explains.
The move towards printing on fabric is one such example, as freight costs go up globally, the easy to transport, light material becomes a better business decision for printers, and retailers.
As for what has allowed Mezographic to grow to the point of its new million-dollar investment?
For Mezo, “It is a cliche, but we just try to provide excellent quality print, and good customer service.
“Everything else follows.”
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