Malcolm Cairns, director, with his son Jonathan and the Dyss X7 cutter
Newcastle-based Graphic Print & Sign has added a 3.2m Dyss X7-3220C digital cutter from AG/CAD to its range of grand format equipment.
To expand its services, last year Graphic Print & Sign (GPS) acquired a Mimaki 3.2m roll-to-roll UV printer, delivered in November, and a 3.2m wide Dyss X7-3220C digital cutter from AG/CAD followed in January 2017.
‘The majority of our work is for design and advertising agencies, sign-makers, litho printers and large format print companies that don’t have 3.2m wide capacity,’ said director Malcolm Cairns. ‘We knew that we wanted a 3.2m wide digital cutting table to complement the Mimaki,’ he continued. ‘AG/CAD was one of only a couple of suppliers that could offer this width and the features we wanted, but we also required a machine with a length of 2m, due to limited floor area.’
GPS went to AG/CAD’s Cheshire headquarters and did extensive trials with fabrics it had printed on the Mimaki, along with other substrates. ‘The cut quality on all materials was outstanding,’ reported Mr Cairns.
The new cutter has already made a difference at GPS. ‘As a relatively small company, we felt that the business was running us and not vice versa,’ explained Mr Cairns. ‘It was very labour intensive and time consuming, but the Dyss has turned this on its head.’
‘From an efficiency perspective, our trio of Mimakis would run vinyl and banner rolls overnight, but in the morning we could have a full day of hand cutting,’ said Jonathan Cairns, production director. ‘Now, we arrive in the morning and the Dyss will get on and cut printed rolls and banners in a fraction of the time.’
‘Before we had the Dyss X7, all profile cutting was sent for external processing with an average lead-time of three to four days,’ he continued. ‘The Dyss X7 has brought all this work in-house, enabling us to keep strict control of turnaround times that are often within 24 hours.’
