Artworks is a design-led manufacturer of corporate branding products and services, digitally printed bespoke graphics and decorative solutions for the workplace environment. It has installed an Agfa Jeti Mira 2.69 metre wide by 3.2 metre deep flatbed, six-colour plus white and primer UV-inkjet printer into one of its Bristol production facilities.
The company, which was established in 1997, has an annual turnover of £5 million and plans to increase this to £10 million over the next three years. It has 60 staff spread over three production sites in Bristol as well as an office in London.
Whilst printed graphics is the mainstay of the company’s business, it offers a number of other services which differentiates it from other display companies. Artworks provides a total decorative graphics service which, apart from printing and finishing, includes framing, metalwork, plastic fabrication and joinery together with a full installation service.
“We wanted a true flatbed wide-format printer so we took our time and visited a number of manufacturers to compare several options but the Agfa Jeti Mira ticked all the boxes. It produces quality images on an extensive range of material, came in at the right price and included Agfa’s own finance package. Added to this we felt we could rely on Agfa’s service and support,” explained John Sulzmann, managing director at Artworks Solutions.
Artworks Solutions prints on a wide variety of material including glass, metal, wood, fabric, vinyl and board. The challenging projects it undertakes for clients, such as the BBC, Balfour Beatty, Jaguar, Liverpool Football Club, Imperial Tobacco and Regus as well as a host of major architects and developers, places high demands on the company to come up with innovative visual solutions. For example, Artworks may be called upon to print on a fabric wall covering that is required to be pinboard in one area and magnetic in another. It may also need to print on glass which is backlit in some areas and magnetic in others. The challenges are ongoing which place increasing demands on its expertise as well as the wide-format printers it utilises.
“We have had problems with previous printers and the demands we have posed has caused Agfa a few headaches but, to be fair, we are very happy with the Jeti Mira. Also, Agfa’s service and support has been excellent. In a business such as ours we need suppliers that can work with us as partners and this is where Agfa makes a real difference,” concluded Sulzmann.
The true flatbed Jeti Mira is a six-colour with white and either primer or varnish UV-inkjet printer that offers impressive print quality and productivity with a printing speed of up to 227 m²/hr. The roll-to-roll option provides even greater versatility and enables printing on a wide variety of flexible media.
The 7pl droplet size produces industry-leading quality, stunning detail and razor-sharp text even as small as 4-point type.
Other features include a moving gantry for printing on x- and y-axes with pinpoint precision and the 'Print & Prepare' technology allows new media to be loaded while the printer is still working.
The Jeti Mira is available with a table depth of either 1.6 m or 3.2 m and a width of 2.69 m.