Page 41 - Print 21 Magazine Sep-Oct 2018

Wide format
Reducing power withEFI Vutek
While most grand-format machines use mercury-arc lamps for UV curing, EFI’s Vutek series employs LEDs. This helps dramatically
bring down the total cost
of ownership, according to
Ian Cleary, sales manager at distributor Starleaton. “Other machines use traditional UV mercury arc systems, which require a lot of power. EFI runs LED curing, which requires far less power and make the run costs much lower.
“The maintenance and run costs are so low you could run another machine with the difference,” he says.
The company says the
flagship five-metre roll-to-roll
EFI printer, the Vutek 5r, is
among the fastest in the
market, capable of print speeds
up to 450 square metres per hour.
“It is really an industrial press, and by far the fastest and most efficient five metre wide press out there,” says Cleary.
The Vutek 5r is also capable of handling a wide variety of applications, and comes with in-line slitting and cutting, as well
as multi-roll printing ability. “Across the whole fleet but particularly the 5r, the flexibility and versatility are great. You can run 5m billboard material on the 5r, but you can also run any roll application,” says Cleary. “The base machine is four colour, but you can have a seven colour option,
or white ink for special effects on clear
or coloured material.”
Andy Yarrow, Asia-Pacific director at
EFI, believes the company’s one-stop-shop attitude towards its products is another distinct advantage. “We have control over hardware, software, electronics and ink –
it is a combination of everything. In general, when you look at what EFI does, we combine everything into one ecosystem,” he says.
The seven-picolitre droplet size and 1200dpi resolution have made the 5r popular in Japan, with seven units sold in the country last year; another has recently been purchased in Korea. Both markets prize quality over other concerns in their purchases, says Yarrow. “A lot of customers are choosing the four-colour option only, because they are able to get high quality without adding light magenta, light cyan and light yellow, thanks to the small drop size and the resolution,” he says.
“When you move to markets like Australia, people want both quality and throughput, and the speeds you can get from these machines are incredible”, says Yarrow.
Less power: EFI Vutek
Durst running unnattended
One key workhorse in leading large format printer Cactus Imaging's stable is the Durst Rho 512+, a five-metre roll-to-roll machine distributed in Australia by Photo Electronic Services (PES). “It is reliable, well-engineered, high-quality. It is right up there with the best in the world for sure,” says Keith Ferrell, Cactus Imaging, one of the growing number of local Durst users.
Matt Ashman of PES highlights the reliability of the Durst. He says, “We aim at 99 per cent uptime and we guarantee our roll to roll devices can be run unattended – overnight, for example, minimising the need for operator intervention.".
The Rho 512 offers a maximum speed of 400 square metres per hour at a resolution
of up to 1200dpi, and is capable of printing multiple rolls at the same time. White
ink adds value to the output, as well as
haptic printing for applications like Braille. According to Ashman, Durst’s built-to-order machines offer a distinct advantage over
the competition. “We can tailor solutions
for individual needs – we are happy to alter devices to fit a customer’s personal needs with automation, streamlining, and workflow hardware and software.
“What Durst offers is unrivalled productivity with unrivalled production quality. We always like to think we enter into a partnership with all of our customers, and because our machines are built to order, we can tailor them to specific customers."
Minimum intervention: Durst Rho
Print21 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2018 41