Wide Format Solutions
Swindon based commercial B1 printing company Acorn Press has revealed that its recent investment in a new Ricoh Pro TF6251 UV flatbed printer has enabled it to significantly expand its point of sale services and secure a number of new customers.
Founded in 1979, Acorn Press is a diversified business that delivers a range of litho, digital and large format printing services to customers. In September 2021, the company underwent a management buy out and has since invested heavily in certain areas of the business to enhance its offering.

This included wide format, with Acorn Press taking on the Pro TF6251 as part of its expansion. The company was already running a roll to roll machine in-house for work such as large posters and pop up displays but required a new printer in order to address a rise in demand for specific types of work.
The company was receiving more enquiries about Corex and Foamex work, which it was previously not able to produce in-house. The company then secured a contract for a large finance business that included certain point of sale material, which it was having to outsource at an approximate cost of £300,000. As a result, it opted to invest in the new printer to bring this, and other signage work, in-house.
‘We decided on this model as it has the roll to roll option and also offers white ink,’ managing director Simon Evers said. ‘The main factors for selecting the Ricoh solution were the cost effectiveness of running the printer, the speed of the machine, and the fact that the samples we produced for the finance company matched previous work very well. The machine offered everything we needed to facilitate that project.’

He continued, ‘The roll option means we can print on most substrates and have also produced floor graphics, wall papers and window displays on ultra clear vinyls. There seems no limit to the variety of point of sale we can produce and with the printer’s speed we are producing work same day for certain customers.
‘Since the machine was installed, we have had so much demand and enquiries for all sorts of work; it has opened new avenues and helped us win new contracts.’
The machine was installed alongside a new Veloblade flatbed water cooled CNC router from Vivid Laminating Technologies. Materials such as wood, acrylic and plastics are printed on the Ricoh and then cut on the 2500 x 1600 mm router to produce applications such as banners, posters and kiss-cut stickers.

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