London-based Vital Concept has ‘significantly accelerated’ production with the installation of an Inktec Jetrix LXi8 flatbed printer supplied by Perfect Colours, allowing the business to save both time and media.
The Perivale business bought a Jetrix KX7 flatbed printer in 2018, but needed to upgrade to achieve greater speed and the ability to print on a multitude of media types at higher quality. Various other large format printer brands were considered, but the Jetrix emerged as the favourite, thanks to Vital Concept’s experience with the KX7 and its support.
After owning the LXi8 for a few months the company has found that the capacity of the new printer means it can take on additional work. While about 60% of production is board printing for the construction and exhibition trade, Vital Concept is now working more with exhibition designers, space designers and retail clients.
The biggest benefit has been the speed of the printer combined with the lack of heat from the LED UV curing: previously, many corrugated board jobs had to be taped down to avoid head crashing due to the curing lamp heat. Now, thanks to the vacuum bed and lower curing temperatures, this is no longer necessary, saving time, money and media. The company is actively increasing its capacity to produce jobs involving glass, PVC and foam as well as corrugated board for a broad range of PoS and window display signage. This also brings more sustainable working, through minimised wastage and energy consumption.
Managing director Ravi Patel commented, ‘We loved our KX7, but the Jetrix LXi8 has taken everything to a completely new level. It is great to invest in a bit of kit like this and it actually lives up to the expectation. It has an amazing white, which has significantly improved the clarity and quality of what we now produce. And the printer just ploughs through the jobs and takes on whatever we throw at it – one minute it can be producing a construction hoarding and the next it might be tackling some glass signage.’
