Case study from Agfa

The Big Ink Tank in Coventry has become the latest Agfa customer having invested in the largest hybrid Anapurna H3200 UV LED wide format press.

Installed late August, the Anapurna H3200i LED, run by Agfa’s Asanti Workflow, is now bedded in and business owner, Ty Power, is delighted with his purchase. “It was a huge decision for us to change supplier having run only Vutek machines even before the conception of The Big Ink Tank. But we’d built the business to a place where we were looking to invest in a new machine, as oppose to second-hand, and all the benefits that can bring. Agfa truly appreciated that changing a supplier that was part of the culture of the business meant they had to get buy in, specifically from our production team, before any change would be made. To that end they spent a full year working with us, taking us to businesses that had made similar decisions so that our team could ask the right questions and after endless demos and training sessions I placed the order. The Anapurna H3200i LED, at 3.2m wide is perfect for us and at an affordable price, but with my repro background it was the Asanti workflow that completely sold it to me. It’s just so intuitive. We appreciated the way Agfa dealt with the sale, there was no hard sell, their team just invested time to understand our business. And whilst it was a big decision, each day it proves to me that it was the right one both in terms of quality and the speed of support we get when needed.” The Big Ink Tank was started by Ty Power in 2009 after he had worked for Lithocraft, a large regional repro house, for over 20 years. He recognised the market potential for wide format early on and has grown his business, which largely provides display graphic solutions, to an annual turnover of over £400k. The business has a total of six very experienced employees having 70 years combined industry experience between them. They see their point of difference as being totally customer focused, with every job a bespoke solution and most of their customers have remained with them since 2009. “Our introduction to The Big Ink Tank was from Tony Barr from Antalis who are a print consumable supplier to the business. He had suggested they view the Agfa Anapurna range.” Said Roger Sheratt, Digital Sign & Display Area Manager from Agfa. “I had met Ty Power previously but the recommendation from our partner Antalis re-engaged us at the right time. We visited the business as a team to guide them through the sale process. It was a consultative approach which led to a positive end result and an overall investment of around £200k.” The wide-format hybrid Anapurna LED series is perfect for printers that want to combine board and roll-to-roll jobs. The engines print at a width of up to 3.2m and combine high print quality with high productivity for outdoor and indoor jobs. They are fitted with air-cooled UV LED lights that save energy, costs and time and are ideal for heat-sensitive materials. They also lead to a faster process as they can be switched on and off instantaneously. The Agfa Asanti software is a complete, automated wide format production hub that streamlines workflow, effectively shortening pre-press procedures. The installation of the Agfa Anapurna H3200i LED at The Big Ink Tank has already led to efficiency savings for the business. Ty Power says it is making them ‘work smarter’, very important when supplying exhibition work that is always time sensitive. They put different jobs together and the Asanti workflow assists them in the process. The Big Ink Tank can also offer new products due to the effectiveness of printing white ink on the Anapurna. Agfa is well known for its ink which offer greater pigment loads in less solution. The Anapurna LED series uniquely agitates the white ink specifically to maximise cover and prevent the jet nozzles from blocking. In conclusion Ty Power considers the long-term advantages of his recent purchase. “The Anapurna investment has certainly helped us to become more efficient and to offer a more environmentally friendly service. I think that the future trend in the market will be all about making environmental choices. We’ve all seen the growing issues of plastic waste and I think that the board suppliers will start to come under pressure to consider the ecological effect of the materials we print on, especially materials that are used for short periods and then thrown to waste. Here at The Big Ink Tank we’ll be ready for this drive with our latest investment.”