Australia’s first Océ Arizona 6100 series, a 6170 XTS UV flatbed machine, was just installed at JPC (Johns’ Print Centre) in Adelaide and is already up and running in full production.
The machine is the first Arizona model specifically designed to target the high volume UV flatbed market and is set to place JPC in a strong position now and into the future.
Traditionally a screen printing company, JPC has been a trusted supplier of point of sale and signage to the Adelaide market for some 30 years. Today, the company is in the midst of a transition to digital technologies which, says Joint Managing Director Shane Bobrige, offers its customers faster turnaround and a higher quality product.
Following the installation of their first digital machine, some eight years ago, the company has been on a steady course to embrace the benefits of digital technology,
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| Shane Bobridge with his new Arizona 6170XTS UV |
“There’s no question that digital technology delivers some real advantages over traditional screen printing, not the least by eliminating some of the more demanding, time-consuming processes involved in the make ready process,” Shane said today. “Digital wide-format is quick, clean and extremely fast and, coupled with the quality which can be achieved, the argument for transition is quite compelling.”
With the early experience proving successful, the company later installed an Océ Arizona 550 GT, moving to a relationship with Canon to ensure the perfect blend of technological excellence and premium service support.
It wasn’t long before they were seriously considering transitioning most of their work to a digital platform – the only question was which machine would be the right choice to handle the far higher volume of work without compromising on quality or reliability, so 2014 saw JPC embark on an extensive campaign both in Australia and overseas to find the solution.
After evaluating technology from a number of different manufacturers and models, he finally settled on the Océ Arizona 6170 XTS from Canon, which he saw in action for the first time at a special product preview at Océ’s Vancouver R&D centre. Released in 2013, the 6100 series of flat-bed printers is a high-productivity, high volume range specially designed for sign, display and POS production of more than 30,000m2 of rigid media each year.
The Océ 6170 XTS features two independent printing zones, each with its own vacuum system, so that one board can always be staged and ready while the other is being printed – essentially providing ‘non-stop’ production. Alternatively, the two zones can be combined into one extra-large area to enable prints of up to 2.5m x 3.05m, with the vacuum table once again keeping media and objects stationary during production for absolute print precision.
This meticulous engineering, combined with Océ VariaDotTM print technology ensures optimal print quality while allowing production speeds of up to 50 boards an hour – and, the machine offers huge media versatility, making it perfectly suited to the growing and changing display printing market.
According to Shane, however, the excellent technology was just one factor in his decision.
“Of course, Arizona offered us a trusted platform,” he insists. “We were familiar with the technology and very impressed with what the machine could deliver in terms of speed of turnaround and image quality. The vibrancy and depth of colour we can achieve on the Océ machines is unsurpassed – it’s fantastic technology – but of course, that’s only part of the equation.
“Secondly, the 6170 is a highly versatile and productive machine which can reliably deliver on the volumes we need and give us the flexibility to move most of our screen-printed orders over onto the digital platform. This versatility also gives us the potential to look at new products and services to expand our offering to customers.
“Finally, though, it was largely about the importance of the trusted partnership we have developed with Canon. Since we installed the Arizona 550 GT a few years ago it really gave us enormous confidence when making this investment.”
“So far it’s performing beautifully,” says Shane “We’re really pleased.”
Canon Australia
www.canon.com.au
Johns Print Centre
www.johnsprintcentre.com.au
