SuperWide Digital’s 3.2 metre EFI Vutek GS3250Lx Pro LED hybrid flatbed/roll-fed printer

Investing in the latest technology is helping keep trade printer SuperWide Digital at the top of its game, but it is the firm’s dedication to its trade customers that marks it out.

Many commercial printers have looked at the wide format sector as a bountiful one to expand their offering into, and many have taken the leap. A good many others have blanched at the thought of investing in a new flatbed or roll-to-roll system while their customer base is still to be grown, and have turned to a wide format trade printer that has already made the technology decisions necessary.

One such trade printer, and with a rapidly burgeoning reputation based on its approach to business and its continual investment, is SuperWide Digital, based just to the north of Rochdale in Lancashire. Established by Anthony Drogan in 2000, it has built a business on PVC and mesh production, and has been busily adding other strings to its bow. Most recently, it installed a 3.2 metre EFI Vutek GS3250Lx Pro LED hybrid flatbed/roll-fed printer in March 2014. Two further EFI Vuteks are on their way, including a five metre wide machine, although it already has capability in this width through an existing Durst Rho system.

The technology is important of course, but it is the company’s business approach as a trade supplier that marks it out as a good partner, according to business development manager Luke Drogan, son of the founder and managing director.

‘There are a number of companies that operate in a similar fashion to us,’ he said, ‘but they have their end user clients and they will sell as much of their capacity as they can to these companies. Then they will delve into the trade market to fill their machines up. We are the polar opposite to that. We only look for trade work and our full capacity is dedicated to it. If we give you a deadline, we will work to that deadline, whatever crops up, whereas other companies will take trade work on and if their key direct clients come in with an urgent job, your work goes to the back of the queue.’

There is no minimum charge for customers, and most products are turned around on a three-day basis. The range of applications that SuperWide Digital is equipped to fulfil is impressive, incorporating flatbed and roll-to-roll printing for posters, backlit posters, self-adhesive vinyls, POS, building wraps, and fabric printing through a couple of MTEX 3.2 metre dye sublimation machines. The company has been in soft signage for around five years and has been through the headaches that fabric printing causes. It is an area that is now showing positive growth, said Luke Drogan.

Another high performing part of the business is floor and wall coverings, where the firm has been using a particular substrate from Soyang called G-Floor to excite the market. It is based on a high density clear, flexible PVC substrate that can be printed on the underside using either UV curable or solvent inks. A thick wear-layer protects the integrity of the graphic printed underneath. It can be used for permanent or semi-permanent flooring and comes in a number of finishes, such as embossed, woodgrain, and ceramic. A graphic design can be seamlessly continued from wall to floor. The impact of G-Floor has been substantial, said Mr Drogan.

‘We have taken the market by storm, printing with this material. Most people find it very difficult because it is very heat sensitive, but our EFI Vutek uses LED curing, with 90% less heat put out than UV, so it does not affect this material. We have also got a system on the Vutek that feeds the material in flat and at the right level because you can very easily get head strikes otherwise. It is a very robust material with 3 mm of PVC to wear through before you get near to the print. We are expecting this to be one of the biggest products for us this year.’

Due for delivery in October, two further EFI Vutek’s will further enhance SuperWide Digital’s offering. One of these is a second 3.2 metre system but with 7 picolitre (pl) drop size heads (the existing Vutek produces a 20 pl size drop) to give a smoother finish. A 5-metre Vutek will replace an old NUR Expedio that currently does building wraps and mesh applications. Although the Durst Rho has white ink capability, the Vutek’s take this to a new level, said Mr Drogan.

‘It’s a pure white, while most machines give you a creamy white colour, and this allows us to do a lot more with the print.’