Tilia software optimises layouts for cutting on the Big Display Company’s Zund cutter
Software from Tilia Labs that automates layout for cutting of wide-format work is estimated to have saved 30% on production time at the Big Display Company.
The 20-year-old Slough-based company has a wide range of print devices, including UV, solvent, sublimation, aqueous and latex technologies and the array of proprietary software that came with them made it difficult to standardise work across production.
‘We had so many different printer brands and models, each with its own RIP and software quirks, there were a lot of issues, especially in the interface with the cutter,’ explained Artwork Department manager Arturo Benjumeda. ‘We wanted one single software solution for laying out and cutting that could work with all devices, so that there would be no more than one set of issues regardless of which machine the products were printed on.’
The AI-based Tilia Griffin software was tested and felt to be both powerful and easy to use and all 28 production staff were confident using it within a couple of days.
‘Griffin pretty much does exactly what we expected of it,’ Mr Benjumeda continued, adding, ‘It gives us quick and smart layouts, and simplifies the cutting machine cut files from any print device.’
Times savings from the software turned out to be significant: ‘It’s mainly due to savings on jobs where the cut-out is not a simple rectangular shape. Griffin has saved us a massive amount of time in these situations because we used to manually impose them to save as much material as we could,’ he commented. ‘And, of course, saving production time means saving money. That value is difficult to calculate exactly, but it has been significant.’
