Aztec Signs has purchased an EFI Vutek h3 printer from CMYUK. The 3.2m wide, hybrid, LED printer is central to the Leeds-based company’s plans for the future, allowing it to increase both capacity and quality whilst reducing energy consumption by 82%.
The Vutek h3 will replace the firm’s existing Vutek GS 3250 and will operate alongside its existing Esko X-44 digital cutting table, installed 18 months ago and also purchased from CMYUK.
Chris Jameson and Tom Wilton founded Aztec Signs in the former’s sitting room in 1988. ‘During the last 30 years, we’ve been through a wide range of large format printers in various guises from water-based machines through to solvent, UV and Latex, so we’ve got a pretty wide view of all the various technologies,’ Mr Wilton explained. ‘We’ve been using EFI Vutek printers for 12 years now, all purchased through CMYUK which would always be our first port of call for buying printing and cutting hardware. We did look at other machines, but we didn’t find anything that was comparable at the price point. It has been on my radar since I saw it at Fespa in 2018.’
The h3 is the third generation EFI VUTEk printer, it is a belt-driven super-wide, industrial volume printer that has a reengineered hybrid platform. A ten-channel system, it can output up to nine layers in a single pass and features three rows of Ricoh’s Gen 5 print heads. It also offers a one-day field upgrade path to the H5 configuration that sports five rows of print heads.
Aztec Signs purchased the printer after visiting EFI’s demonstration facility in Zaventem, Belgium. ‘The trip to the EFI demonstration facility gave us a thorough understanding of how the printer works, what the improvements are compared to other machines,’ Mr Wilton explained. ‘Unlike a trade show setting, we were able to put the printer through its paces in a real hands-on, one–to-one manner. At trade shows, stand demonstrations usually output highly coloured, attractive prints, but here we could really test our true requirements such as a solid red.’
Working with a new LED printer that can support a greater range of materials, means that the company will be reviewing the breadth and types of materials it will be using. In line with its environmental aspirations, Aztec is keen to explore Pongs materials, sold exclusively by CMYUK in the UK and Ireland.
The purchase of the EFI VUTEk h3 is about the continued growth and success of Aztec Signs, and as far as co founders Chris and Tom are concerned a marker for the future. ‘Chris and I are very much seen as the business,’ Mr Wilton concluded. ‘But at some point, fairly soon, we’ll want to step back. We have a young workforce and they will be the people who will be taking the business forward and we’re putting them in a position where they can. The h3 is a choice for the next generation, it’s about moving the business forward without us, and I know that this printer will act as a safe pair of hands.’
