Since its installation in late 2020, France-based Imprimerie des Alpes has been using its Ricoh Pro TF6250 to transform its production processes and bring more work in-house.
Based in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier, a small town in the foothills of the French Prealps, Imprimerie des Alpes is a thriving print service provider. The company prides itself on the breadth and quality of its product range, delivering a wide variety of print collateral, including stationery, business cards, brochures, and sign and display materials to local businesses and municipal departments.
A forward-looking business, Imprimerie des Alpes has championed digital print technology since its inception in 1983. Using its state-of-the-art digital presses and large format printers, the company responds quickly and efficiently to its customers' requirements for bespoke, high-quality collateral.
Continually investing in new technology helps Imprimerie des Alpes to stay ahead of the competition. Adept at identifying new business opportunities, Imprimerie des Alpes recognised that the production of sign and display materials would benefit from digital innovation. Existing large format print technologies, such as roll-to-roll inkjet printing, presented limitations.
The production of rigid graphics, for example, involved separate and costly print and lamination processes. Indeed, with floor space at a premium, Imprimerie des Alpes had outsourced some large format production processes, including lamination. Keen to expand its sign and display portfolio, and to reduce costs by optimising its in-house capabilities, the company evaluated UV flatbed printers.
The company was looking for a compact, one-step production solution. For Imprimerie des Alpes, the key purchase criteria were quality, flexibility and ease of use. The system would need to be able to print vibrant and durable colour graphics directly onto a wide range of substrates, including aluminium, glass, Perspex and wood. Several alternative systems were considered before the Ricoh Pro TF6250 UV flatbed printer was selected.
"The Ricoh Pro TF6250 is incredibly versatile. It has allowed us to extend our product range and win new business," says Fabrice René Cusin, CEO of Imprimerie des Alpes.
The Ricoh Pro TF6250 is a compact flatbed UV printer. To save floorspace, 12 high-precision piezoelectric printheads move at speed over a static media bed. Eliminating the need for masking, the media bed has four independent vacuum zones. Controlled by the operator, they enable the Ricoh Pro TF6250 to print directly onto large and irregularly shaped panels, and multi-piece media.
Imprimerie des Alpes selected the Pro TF6250 because it promised to support a wider range of applications than other technologies. Ricoh's GREENGUARD® certified ink is optimised for signage and display. It has a wide colour gamut and, because it remains flexible, supports post-production shaping. Moreover, because the ink is odourless and cures instantly, graphics can be installed immediately.
Expanding Imprimerie des Alpes' creative horizons, the Pro TF6250 also supports seven-channel printing. In addition to regular cyan, magenta, yellow and black ink channels, the Pro TF6250 has white, primer and clear gloss ink channels. Primer can be used to prepare industrial substrates for printing, and a clear varnish can be applied to graphics to add creative impact.
Imprimerie des Alpes has paired the Pro TF6250 with an Esko digital cutter. The printer-cutter combination enables the company to produce a wide array of immaculately finished output, including intricately shaped point of purchase (POP) display materials, in-house. And, because the Ricoh printer is highly productive, Imprimerie des Alpes is able to turn work around quickly.
The Pro TF6250 is proving to be a shrewd investment. Ricoh's large format UV technology has transformed Imprimerie des Alpes' large format production process, enabling the company to produce high quality sign and display materials in-house. With no need to outsource processes such as lamination, the solution is saving the company time and money.
The system is highly adaptable. The device's wide media versatility - it can print onto virtually any rigid substrate - means that it can handle a large variety of work. The multizone vacuum makes it simple to position panels ready for printing and, with Ricoh's ColorGATE Productionserver software effortlessly managing the print process, it is easy to create vibrant multi-layered graphics.
Ricoh's solution is helping Imprimerie des Alpes to win new business. Confident in the device's capabilities, the company has pushed out a raft of new services. Clients are impressed with the breadth and quality of signage produced on the Pro TF6250, and competitors have also taken notice, asking Imprimerie des Alpes to print large format graphics for their customers.
Yannick Delahougue, Workshop Manager at Imprimerie des Alpes, concludes: "There are no limits. We can print onto virtually any substrate and using seven colours we can create truly amazing effects."