Ricoh Pro printers make a striking statement at Print Evolution Live thanks to Drytac

Print Solutions

Ricoh Europe recently used Drytac’s Polar Grip polymeric self-adhesive vinyl to transform the look of two of its machines at its European Customer Experience Centre in central England.

Ricoh is very much focused on its clients and providing solutions that meet the ever changing demands of the wider market. As part of this approach, it regularly invites partners and clients to its European Customer Experience Centre, located in Telford in Shropshire.

Those who visit the location can view a range of machines in action and see up close the quality of print they can achieve working with this technology. Recently, the communications team elected to take this a step further and decorate several machines to not only help catch the eye of visitors but also to showcase what is possible with the printers.

Ricoh’s various printer models have an avatar, with the idea of the wraps to reflect this name. For the recent wraps, it chose to decorate its Pro Z75, which is known as the Dragon, and the Pro VC80000, which carries the avatar of Harpy Eagle.

The manufacturer selected Drytac Polar Grip as the material for both printer wraps. Polar Grip is a polymeric self-adhesive PVC film that offers up to seven years’ indoor durability when paired with a matching laminate. The high bond grey adhesive of the film allows users to apply graphics to a wide range of surfaces such as metal, plastic, wood, glass and brick.

For added durability and safety, Ricoh paired Polar Grip with Interlam Emerytex Pro, a pressure sensitive overlaminating film featuring a matte pebble texture, seven year indoor and outdoor longevity, and multiple fire, slip, and FDA certifications.

‘We selected Polar Grip because the paint job on both the Ricoh Pro Z75 and Pro VC80000 have a textured finish, so wanted to be sure of a good adhesion of the vinyl,’ said Shane Barrett, pre-sales manager, inkjet solutions, EMEA high speed inkjet and large format print at Ricoh Europe Graphic Communications.

The striking designs were printed in-house on a Pro L5100e latex large format printer before being applied to the two machines. Both wraps were installed ahead of the manufacturer’s Print Evolution Live 2025 event which took place in mid November.

‘The print quality on Polar Grip was perfect using a generic PVC profile on our Pro L5100e and fed through the printer without any issues with perfect tiling and panel alignment for the installers,’ Shane said. ‘The initial reaction internally and from visiting clients was that it looks very impressive.

‘And thanks to the support from Drytac, we were able to find the correct products for this impressive application.’