John E Wright has bought a Zund G3 L-2500 digital cutting table for its Hull operation. The company plans to increase its 13 strong workforce on the back of the investment.
The new cutter, purchased with the help of the Local Growth Fund delivered by North East Lincolnshire Council, follows the 2014 installation of a similar Zund G3 with Prepare-it automated workflow software at John E Wright's central facility in Nottingham.
Technical director Alan Edwards said: "Thanks to a significant reduction in the time needed to prepare files for Ripping and cutting we have seen a massive increase in productivity and a much lower waste percentage."
Hull's G3 features the same software as the machine in Nottingham. Previously, vinyl cutting was done on a Mimaki CG-130 FXII cutter but all other cutting and trimming was completed by hand. Now more finishing can be handled in-house, and the company said it can use more profitable materials for banners, POS, posters and roll-up graphics. Thanks to the machine's 1Kw router, it can also handle thicker substrates popular for signage, such as Dibond, MDF, Forex and acrylic up to 30mm thick.
PackZ software means the Hull site can also now handle packaging mock-ups and other new products.
The cutting table is running alongside an Océ flatbed printer and several HP latex printers.