Manta Makes has invested in a Mimaki UJF 6042 Mk II e UV LED printer from CMYUK – adding to its A2-sized flatbed UJF-6042 and UJF6042 Mk II.
The new printer is available in both A2 and A3 formats and has an optional ‘kebab’ unit which rotates bottles, cans, tins, and other cylindrical items to enable total wrap around graphics of an object. Both Mimaki Mk II printers are four colour machines that includes 2 x white, clear, and primer. They can print directly to substrates up to 153mm thick and are up to 20% faster than the previous 6042 series.
Owner Samantha Riley said, ‘All three run all day, every day. There aren’t really any machines like these. They’re reliable, they’re like workhorses, and I really like the service that comes with them. Most people when they come and visit us are impressed with all the equipment we have in-house. If I want to sell things and get the right feedback, I need to make sure I’m working with the right equipment from the beginning.’
The company’s husband and wife team, Paul and Samantha Riley started out with an A4-sized Trotec Rayjet laser engraver in their dining room in 2015. Seven years on, they now have 24 staff working from an 8000 sq ft premises in New Forest, designing and producing various digitally printed items.
The duo first started out making fairy doors, then moved into customised wedding décor to sell on eBay. An early plan was to sell seasonal wedding merchandise for most of the year supplemented by decorations at Christmas. According to the pair, lockdown completely decimated the company’s wedding trade, so they decided to start producing other products such as cushions, mugs, and gifting.
Ms Riley said, ‘At the beginning people were doubtful that we would succeed because we didn’t really have a clue, and certainly didn’t appear to have much business acumen but we’ve proved the doubters wrong. This is because we’re relentless people, and if we can’t work out how to do something, we just keep going until we can. Covid was beyond our control, and we had no time to panic. We just thought to ourselves we’re going to make everything, and that’s what we did. My advice to someone just starting out, get decent computers to control your printers. If you’ve got a rubbish PC running Raster Link on it, everything will be slow, and it will take ages to load up the job. Also, the table the Mimakis sit on, you need to buy that otherwise the printer will shift about. Don’t cut any corners, invest in all aspects of your technology.
‘If people like us with no design background or any history of running a business can do it, then everyone can. It’s just about how hard you hold on when things get difficult.’
