Welsh printer Screentec has praised its pair of Jetrix LXi6 LED UV flatbed Printers for massively increasing the amount of customised and branded products it can produce.

The company, based in the Rhondda Valley, says that the Jetrix machines have allowed it to produce much of its routine work three times faster than was possible previously and that the amount of work it can take on has increased accordingly.

Darren James, a director at Screentec, explained, ‘We are known for putting colour on almost anything! And that is exactly what these printers do. Some regular jobs such as printing on glass to then be backlit used to take 40 minutes, now this sort of project is taking just nine minutes. In fact, a recent job printing on Corex, which we were proud to have managed to get down to 10 minutes; is now slashed to two and a half minutes.’

Screentec first considered Jetrix technology more than a decade ago, but eventually decided that the brand was still too new to the wide-format world. Fast-forward to 2021 however and, with the Jetrix brand now firmly established, Screentec decided to give them another look. 

After being convinced by an ‘extensive and comprehensive’ testing process, Screentec purchased not one, but two LXi6 printers which are being used to produce a wide-array of work, ranging from POS, splashbacks, signage, overlays, industrial graphics, ring binders, clipboards and a range of promotional products.

‘Our lead technician is good; and these machines enable him to manage a suite of equipment at the same time including cutter, folders and finishers too which is almost like watching a conductor with an orchestra,’ Mr James concluded. ‘It is astounding how much quicker the white print is on these printers compared to what we had before.

‘This is largely down to the inks, which while cheaper than our previous ones, all have a similar viscosity and therefore when printing white it allows for quicker printing without compromising on the opacity. Whereas before we may have had to put down several layers, we can now put 400% density and create a far better finish. This is a great benefit, as we have found other manufacturers have to thicken their white to achieve a more opaque finish.

‘Another element that we are appreciating more and more is the statistics side. This is giving us greater insight into the actual time and cost of producing jobs. Practically this means we can review every aspect and therefore in a way these printers are enabling us to transform the business and how we approach costings. This includes now being able to offer ‘mix and match’ cost for our regular customers. This is based on quotes by the sheet and then per unit produced depending on the amount of cutting and finishing required. This makes quoting so much more simple and accurate.’