(L-R) Nathan Sable (Omnigraphics), Antonio Crimi (EFI), Chris Coulston (EFI), Alex Bloch (EFI) and Gerard Mudford (Omnigraphics) with the EFI VUTEk 5r+
A company that has in excess of 20 large format printers of various formats as well as 10 units of large format finishing equipment, Omnigraphics Australia is well-equipped with the tools necessary for the large format digital printing game. The company recently decided to further boost its production speeds with the installation of a new printer – the EFI VUTEk 5r+ superwide roll-to-roll LED printer – that has brought the business new gains.
Omnigraphics Australia CEO Nathan Sable said the new printer, which is the first EFI installation for the company, has enabled the business to expand to new markets that it was unable to tap into previously, in addition to other benefits.
“We are always looking to invest in state-of-the-art equipment best suited for our market and to maintain client
confidence that they are getting the best possible result available,” he said.
“The EFI machine suited our needs perfectly and allowed us to deliver the best quality print at a more economical cost, and get our product to market faster. Given that the printer is LED, it has the added bonus of reduced power consumption. We know that we can rely on EFI to maintain the equipment and support us with upgrades as well as maintenance requirements.”
Omnigraphics is one of Australia’s most diverse large format digital printing companies with two full-scale facilities located across the eastern seaboard of Australia. It specialises in Out of Home printing, which covers billboards, street furniture and transit, as well as retail and general signage.
It also offers a one-stop-shop solution of design, print and installation.
Some of Omnigraphics’ key markets include outdoor companies, national retail rollouts, expos and bespoke projects.
It services industries such as advertising, retailers, signage companies, Out of Home companies and print management groups throughout the country.
Across its two Australian facilities, it has about 90 staff specialising in various areas of large format print.
“Most of our employees have been with the business for more than 10 years and everyone takes an extreme amount of pride in their work in coming up with new ways of printing and finishing our products,” Sable said.
“We print on all sorts of different materials, making sure that we are expanding our knowledge. That is what we, as a business, pride ourselves on and the 5r+ has enabled us to explore more possibilities and ways to do just that.”
Opportunities from challenges
Omnigraphics’ main challenge before the installation of the EFI VUTEk 5r+ was speed restrictions and having to slow down its existing machines to reach quality outputs. It changed its strategy to use different brands of equipment to achieve the best possible results.
“We’ve changed our strategy to having platforms that best fit the required solution. Now that we’ve invested in a mixture of print machine manufacturers, it has made a huge difference to our production and for our customers,” Omnigraphics Australia production manager Gerard Mudford said.
“We carried out research on all the wide format printers available in the market currently and based our decision on speed and quality for our business model, considering that this investment was predominately targeted at Out of Home billboards and general signage.
“We shortlisted the machines which best suited our desired result and then proceeded to put them through their paces with rigorous testing. The outcome was that the EFI VUTEk 5r+ and its speed and output quality outperformed every other machine in the market for our applications. The EFI VUTEk 5r+ has replaced two printers that previously operated in this area of work, as well as allowing potential for new growth with the ability to double our capacity.
“The printer sits seamlessly with our other machines and has the capability to act as redundancy for many of our other machines with its versatility and ability to produce added volume.”
Mudford also said the installation of the EFI VUTEk 5r+ has enabled business growth with productivity increasing, the ability to redirect staff to other areas, and reductions in overtime cost. This is all while printing higher quality billboards and signage at a faster speed, lowering operating costs and delivering products faster to its customers.
“We’ve been able to step up production on all sorts of things; it’s improved everything for us,” he said.
One of the features of the printer that captured Omnigraphics was its colour-white-colour feature. This takes away the need for printing double-sided backlit.
“We didn’t have the option of printing white before. Having that option has opened the door to new opportunities,” Mudford said.
“The speed of colour-white-colour is comparable to printing double sided backlit banners, but it saves us from having to load and unload the machine and removes some risk of costly errors with alignment. The colour-white-colour process is so perfectly tuned that it’s almost set and forget.
“With the two layers of colour being separated with a layer of white ink, this means that alignment of the two coloured layers is essential and the EFI VUTEk 5r+ does not miss a beat.
“We’re producing higher volumes and higher quality at a reduced cost – in some cases, a speed increase of 300 per cent and at a better quality.
“We regularly produce 40m x 10m roadside billboards. Previously, the print duration on these were about eight hours,
but with the VUTEk 5r+ we can now produce this in one and a half hours.”
Colour intensity is another benefit that Mudford mentioned.
“With the 5r+, the vibrancy of the colours is phenomenal as compared to any other printer in our market. When you look at our billboards on the freeways, the colours ‘pop’ and you know it has been printed on the 5r+,” he said.
“Our customers are thrilled with the new look and quality of our banners, and how well they’re being produced now. Everyone raves about how vibrant the colours are.”
Stellar service levels
The relationship between EFI and its customers does not stop at the sale; instead, that’s where it starts. EFI’s support team picks up on its customer centricity following the sale, delivering on service beyond just the installation process.
Mudford commended EFI’s dedicated customer service team for making the process “easier and less stressful”.
“The installation process, which started in 2019, to date has been one of the smoothest trust building exercises that we’ve had, especially starting fresh with another company after having a long-standing relationship with a business before,” he said.
“The EFI service team has been willing to immediately come to our aid when we have a problem or any issue. The support team, especially Alex [Bloch], comes in and helps service the machine. Alex’s knowledge base of the printer is vast, so he educates us with tips and tricks on how we can best optimise the use of the machine.
“EFI is also constantly developing new upgrades, which are available to us the moment they are ready for market.
“EFI has gone above and beyond any service that I’ve experienced before.”
EFI has four inkjet service staff in Australia, with all team members trained on multiple products and with years of print equipment service experience under their belts.
The team – Chris Coulston, Alex Bloch, Antonio Crimi, and Jude Decruz – all operate autonomously and are self-motivated to provide assistance to the customers, according to EFI Asia Pacific director of service Verne Cole.
“Our objective is to provide quality, timely solutions to customer needs and wants to build value and long-term relationships through superior customer satisfaction, thereby fueling their business success,” Cole said.
“A few years ago, EFI chose to move to a more direct model in Australia and in planning this move, we knew that our service team could and would provide a big step up in the level of quality and value of service provided directly to our customers because of the deep knowledge pool our regional team has and our commitment to customer satisfaction.”
Bloch, based in Melbourne, has been instrumental in the installation and service of the 5r+ for Omnigraphics.
“Alex attends to service calls, installs and provides phone support for Australia, and is the primary contact for EFI roll-to-roll products for the region,” Cole said.
“Chris, who is the EFI A/NZ service and escalation manager, assisted Omnigraphics in site inspections as well as power, air and environmental considerations. The EFI service team, led by Jude, then installed the printer.
“After the install, Chris took ownership of the customer and managed and repaired any issues that came up for the next few months, making sure all issues were escalated and senior management had visibility of them.
“The EFI applications team then trained the customer on how to operate the printer and for advanced Fiery XF colour management. Alex, in his role as the roll-to-roll specialist, made sure that the printer had all the latest software and hardware modes installed and that the customer had the latest Fiery updates and print modes available.”
Bloch also provided advanced applications training and assistance on operating the printer with various medias.
“After a short settling in period, the printer was operating with very few issues, which were taken care of by the service team,” Cole added.
“We strive to provide the best customer experience and treat their needs individually. We create a long-lasting relationship with all of our customers and build on it by being responsive, knowledgeable, and a trusted source of information and assistance.”
Building a local presence
EFI Asia Pacific sales vice-president Rodd Harrison said Australia is one of the company’s key markets within the region and represents well over 100 printer installations out of about 500 that it has in Asia Pacific in total.
“So, this is, and always will be a key market for us in Asia Pacific. Our goal is to be the supplier of choice, partner of choice and the employer of choice in the industry, and we will only get there by continuing to bring to market innovative products and, then, delighting our customers,” Harrison said.
“We have also, in recent times, invested heavily in our talent pool in Asia Pacific. Relocating a talent like Alex Bloch from Israel to Melbourne is just one good example of how we have brought in talent from other regions to bolster an already strong team, and it shows our commitment to the market and our customers.”
Harrison added that EFI’s clients are aware of the value such moves result in.
“This is clearly impacting our customers positively and they’re delighted with the results they are achieving with our solutions, in the real world of the production environment, where it matters. Getting work out faster, more cost efficiently, and without compromising quality is really where the rubber hits the road,” he said.
Delivering for the future
Moving forward, Sable said Omnigraphics continues its quest for expansion in the large format digital print industry, whilst still supporting its existing clients.
“Through our allied companies, we have an increased network that will ensure we reach our goals. We continue our research and investment into new technology so that we can invest in equipment to stay at the forefront of the industry,” he added.
Taking performance, efficiency and quality to the extreme
THE EFI VUTEk 5r+ is a 5m LED roll-to-roll printer with enhanced platform features that includes:
- Newly developed white printing modes, with enhanced quality
- A completely reengineered printing algorithm, including new printing point conditions, such as pulse, temperature, voltage and frequency
- Redesigned platform chassis elements
- New media handling accessories
- New innovative optional features, like the Winder Motorised Air Shaft
- Media weight of up to 400 kg
- Media diameter of up to 50 cm
- Up to 487 m2 per hour
- Up to 7 colours plus optional white or optional clear
- True resolution up to 1200 dpi
- 18 print heads with 7pL UltraDrop Technology
- 300 per cent better media utilisation
- Ships with the EFI Fiery proServer Premium digital front end
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