KGK Group has invested in an EFI Vutek FabriVu 340 printer as it looks to increase its presence in the textile printing sector.
The group, which consists of four companies, has installed the machine at its newly acquired 12,000sqft premises in Harlow. The production facility was bought and customised to accommodate the new FabriVU 340, a Monti Antonio heat press and a Zünd cutter in a total investment worth nearly £2m.
The company, which employs 90 staff and boasts an annual turnover of £11 million, took the decision to purchase the FabriVu after putting it through its paces at one of CMYUK’s open days in Shrewsbury.
‘We’ve bought the right machine at the right time. You walk around retail and with every step you take all you see is fabric,’ said director Dan Pitts. ‘We took up lots of materials to test and the colour reproduction was bang on. The sharpness was out of this world.’
The company opted for the stand alone FabriVu 340 that requires a separate heat press, remaining faithful to the conventional dye-sublimation process. The printer delivers resolution of 2400dpi at speeds of up to 500sqm/hr. With four-colour printing, wide colour gamut and deep colour saturation, it is well suited to soft signage printing such as banners, backlit displays, flags, wall coverings and other high-end display graphics.
What was unexpected was the way the FabriVu has attracted attention from non-traditional markets. ‘It’s actually quite amazing what we’ve done with the machine without actually having to promote it,’ Mr Pitts continued.
‘People have contacted us through word of mouth, or they have contacted manufacturers who have recommended us, or they’ve done the research and we’ve been doing things like printing on towels, printing on sun loungers – personalisation, weird and wonderful things you would never have thought of. We’ve got a client who we’re speaking to now and there is scope to produce a big run of dye sublimation that could keep us very busy!’
