December last year saw the installation of a new Agfa Jeti Tauro 3300 UHS print machine at Exeter-based POS printer, CP Arts. It’s the third Agfa machine purchased by the business and the best yet according to Director John Skudder.
A loyal supporter of Agfa since 2012, CP Arts is now on their third Agfa wide format print engine and this one was key to satisfying the demand of their growing business. As this latest Tauro machine was specified with a UV varnish function, it also renders their last screen print machine redundant.
“I had always thought that I would retire before the silkscreen process was decommissioned at CP Arts, but that’s not now the case.” Said John.
“Traditionally a screen printing business, we purchased our first large format screen print machine in the 1970s and first dipped our toe in the water with a digital wide format press the Fuji Spider. In early 2000 we recognised screen printing was a declining process and kept an eye on the digital machines in the marketplace at that time. When we thought it was the right time to buy, being such a substantial investment, we consulted with a particular clients to assess their views on the best quality test prints we had been provided and they were from the Agfa M Press Leopard, which we purchased in 2012. It was an amazing machine albeit over-engineered at that time, but it was the start of our long-term relationship with Agfa.
We then purchased one of the first Agfa Tauro machines in 2017 and whilst the print quality was outstanding at the time, and it took further work from our screen lines, it is only this year that we feel ready to decommission our final screen print line. Our second Tauro was installed in December as a direct replacement for our first Tauro machine, 30% increase in production capability and with varnish facility it has freed up a significant amount of space and reduced energy consumption.
CP Arts was founded by Chris Price in 1972. Chris, a talented artist started screen printing in volume when he acquired the business of Owen Owen, a prestigious department store with a branch based in Coventry. For many years they serviced all this store’s POS requirements and established a reputation for quality design and print. Their business offered creative solutions from their internal design team and versatility and flexibility. Over the years more Retail brands came on board across the UK and Europe and they outgrew two premises before settling in their current home in 2002 in Marsh Barton, a 24,000 sq ft facility now employing 32 staff. John, one of the Directors, is celebrating 20 years with the business this year.
The latest Agfa Jeti Tauro 3300 UHS was installed in their facility at the end of December 2023. It is traditionally a very busy time for CP Arts, and as it was replacing their previous Tauro machine, the installation needed to be quick causing minimal disruption. The process took place over a weekend and was completed in four days. They praised the work of the Agfa engineers, one of whom, Howard, has serviced their business since 2012, and of James Argent from Agfa, who has supported them throughout the buying process.
They had specified the machine on a visit to Agfa in Belgium, testing jobs and shown the results as previously to one of their key customers who has been with them on the whole digital journey. Everyone agreed that they should remain with Agfa and that this replacement was the right way to go. Overall, the downtime was minimal and the increased productivity and varnish option gave the business even more flexibility in production.