Chelmsford-based Signtec was founded in 1999 and is a major supplier of signage and graphics to customers across the East Anglia region. The company currently occupies a 2200 sq.ft. workshop and produces a wide variety of sign and display solutions.
The company has built a reputation for service and has a high customer retention rate. Indeed, a large proportion of its new business activity is through referrals from existing customers. At the core of the company’s success lies an Agfa Anapurna machine which enables it to quickly and cost-effectively create output for its commercial and trade customers.
When the company initially installed the Anapurna machine, Signtec used OEM inks. Peter French, projects manager from Signtec, explained: “When we first bought the machine, we’d not even heard of alternative inks. We gladly sent off our ink order and wrote a large cheque at the end of each month.”
However, over time, the usage of alternative inks became more prevalent and Signtec decided it would be pertinent to trial the new inks. Quality Print Services (QPS), the main UK distributor for specialist ink manufacturer Nazdar, came to the company’s premises and explained the changeover process.
Chris Bailey, MD at QPS, commented: “We started working with Signtec in March 2012 and we have an excellent working relationship with the business. We converted the company’s Agfa Anapurna printer across to Nazdar inks at that time. It was a simple process - we sent in one of our fully-trained engineers who cleaned out the OEM ink, flushed the printer through with Nazdar conversion fluid, refilled the machine with the Nazdar inks and re-profiled the Rip.”
French added: “It was as simple as that; the Agfa machine was up and running on Nazdar inks with no delay or interruption to our printed output.”
Nazdar products are stringently tested internally and via beta sites, prior to release. These products have the best warranty in the business, covering the entire ink train should Nazdar inks be proven to have damaged an approved/compatible printer.
Since the conversion, French has been seamlessly running his Agfa Anapurna machine on Nazdar UV inks and states: “We’ve saved ourselves a fortune by using Nazdar ink.”
However, he does advise some caution when making the switch-over to alternative inks: “There are certainly some good deals to be had in alternative inks, but there are also some scare stories out there. My experience has been absolutely positive and I can say without any doubt, I am a very happy Nazdar customer. But do buy ink from a supplier you know and one you can actually touch if you need to – not one that’s on another continent.”
French continued: “The Agfa Anapurna is a superb machine, backed by a renowned company and a very experienced technical team and we have been extremely pleased with our investment. However, in this financially tough environment, I have to continually look at costs and savings and ink cost has been one of our primary concerns."