Unusual job for an EFI Vutek QS2 Pro

Having installed the Vutek QS2 Pro, along with an EFI Fiery proServer in December, the company is now developing shields for retail stores, advertising agencies and schools that incorporate high-end graphics. The printed shields serve as advertisements and welcome signs on a daily basis, but provide ballistic protection in emergency situations. 

For over ten years, Hardwire's product lines focused on armour for government and military vehicles. Hardwire began expanding into new markets about three years ago, after a spin-off of its military products, the Bulletproof Clipboard and Ballistic Tactical Shield, became popular with police departments and SWAT teams. Then, after the Sandy Hook School shooting in Connecticut (USA), the company again adapted the product line to develop bulletproof whiteboards, backpack inserts, and point-of-purchase shields for a growing base of customers that includes schools, office buildings, business travellers, health clubs, and retail and convenience stores.

The company manufactures its products by applying pressure to the ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene fibre Hardwire uses in its armour. The colours in the inkjet-printed graphics Hardwire utilised previously did not hold up under those conditions, so the company had to apply graphics to the outside of its products post manufacturing. Now, with the Vutek QS2 Pro printer, Hardwire can incorporate durable, UV inkjet-printed graphics in the actual armour manufacturing process.

"EFI's UV inks solve the issues we had before," said Hardwire CEO, George Tunis. "With our new Vutek device, we can print directly on the armour or on our speciality film layers, and the colours in the graphics don't run in our manufacturing process. Not only will the graphics last longer during use, our decorated products have a cleaner, higher-quality look that allows them to blend into their surroundings in a non-militarised way."