Page 54 - Print21 magazine Mar-Apr 2023

| PRINTER PROFILE | BIG IMAGE
Big Image re-emerges
Despite enduring the challenges of 2020, first with the pandemic, then a major fire in its premises, Adelaide-based trade printer Big Image Australia has emerged from the ashes, and is expanding its offering
When Covid hit in March 2020, Big Image Australia was taken
out of its comfort zone, eventually resorting to providing other services to the trade, such
as Covid signage, instead. The experience turned out to be a blessing in disguise for the company, which showed its best profits in the second half of that year. But the tide turned again when a huge fire broke out on Boxing Day in the same year, a fire which took 38 firefighte several hours to get under control.
Big Image lost everything in the fire – it destroyed the premises the company had moved into only 18 months before, as well as all its stock and machinery.
“It was devastating. We didn’t really have words at the time to describe how we felt. It was probably one of the worst things we had to deal with,” said Deon Capogreco, who now owns the business passed down to him by his father, Carlo.
Almost instantaneously the industry rallied behind the Capogrecos. A constant stream of people offered thei support from the second day after
the blaze, and as time went by more assistance continued to flow in
It has been an amazing story of goodwill that allowed the company to continue operating in temporary premises until February 2021, outsource a lot of its work, then rent a place and equipment short-term until they were able to move to a new factory in September that year. Despite losing everything in the blaze, the Capogrecos had access
to their client data and jobs, which they had been saving to the cloud since 2019. Thanks to support from its insurance company and HP, the company was also able to recover a lot of equipment, and within six weeks.
Deon says that Big Image has had
a long and positive relationship with both HP and HP distributor Smartech, which have both provided ongoing support and assistance.
ABOVE
Opportunity to reset: Deon and Carlo Capogreco outside the new Big Image
TOP RIGHT
Key partner:
HP at Big Image
RIGHT
Varied workload: Big Image
The company had purchased the HP 500 series latex printer years
ago, which Deon says has been a game changer in the move away from solvents. He points out, “Operators appreciated the fact that there were no more solvent smells, nor constant cleaning from ink spills. The 500 series was so easy to maintain as well.” Part of the new equipment installed after the fire was an upgrade from the HP 500 series to the HP Latex 800 series which gave Big Image white ink capabilities.
As part of its desire for a greener production process before the
fire, Big Image Australia had also invested in the HP Latex R series. Deon was happy with the R series, which is now a central part of the equipment stable in the company’s new production facility. He says
this was a logical choice and adds, “Big Image Australia has also now purchased an additional HP Latex R series printer, to cope with the surge in demand for flatbed work, as well
54 MARCH/APRIL 2023