A HP Scitex FB7500 industrial press has been used by Leicester-based Greenshires to print special-edition Iron Maiden ‘Ed Til I'm Dead’ drum wraps for Premier Music International. Using the machine’s POP34 mode for close-view applications, the company produced 500 sets of 11 drum wraps, totalling approximately 1000m2 of print, in about five working days.
"We were most impressed with the level of consistency in the finished result," said Colin Tennant, marketing manager at Premier. "The turnaround time is exceptionally fast but the quality does not suffer for it. And, the fact Premier can order wraps based upon actual orders rather than forecasting is also a benefit in itself."
Another fan of Greenshires' drum wraps is Nicko McBrain, the Iron Maiden drummer. The wraps are exactly the same as used on Nicko's tour kit for the four Iron Maiden world tours.
According to Greenshires sales manager, Marc Wolfe, the company's earlier upgrade of the HP Scitex FB7500 to use HP FB225 Scitex Inks, proved instrumental to the company's ability to take on the new creative drum wrap application.
"When printing drum wraps, the challenge is ensuring the ink adheres without cracking on the PETG substrate," explained Wolfe. "With our previous machine, we could not get the ink to adhere; but with the HP Scitex FB7500 and the new inks, we had the confidence to try again. Through R&D we came up with the idea of reverse printing on the back of the media. This prevents the drum wraps from getting scratched with extensive or rough use."
He added: "The HP Scitex FB7500 Press opens doors for us. We can now print on almost any media while confidently offering better quality, quicker turnaround and more competitive prices, even with the most challenging of projects."