UK-based Kolorcraft, point of sale marketing specialists, has acquired an EFI Nozomi 14000 SD single-pass display graphics printer to print the full gamut of what is required for the retail environment that it serves.
The EFI Nozomi 14000 SD was designed to meet the needs of the display graphics market, giving users the opportunity to improve speed to market and increase profitability with a wide range of substrates and colour quality. It also offers sustainability benefits, including a reduction of Global Warming Potential (GWP) by 50% compared to offset printing, according to a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) performed in collaboration with the Clean Agency.
Kolorcraft, established in 1979, has been operating its display graphics business with a combination of offset, digital and screen-print and had been following the progress of single-pass technology.
Gary Herrington, Kolorcraft’s operations director, commented, ‘We knew that single-pass was a technology that people were working on, and we wanted to understand what the benefits were. Right from the outset, we were really impressed with the quality we saw from Nozomi. We talked to other potential suppliers and did testing on site at various facilities. And we came to the point of view that EFI was leading the market.’
Following an opportunity to visit EFI’s Valencia customer experience centre to see the Nozomi in action, he said the machine was more advanced than any other competitors the company had seen. Mr Herrington added that the Nozomi purchase will facilitate the elimination of offset printing from its operation.
A machine described as user friendly by Mr Herrington, gives users the opportunity to significantly improve speed to market and increase profitability with a wide range of substrates. Kolorcraft chose the CMYK + orange ink configuration to increase the colour range of the machine, providing vibrant and almost fluorescent colours, and is an area which may be added to in the future with another specialty colour, explained Mr Herrington.
Michael Atkinson, Kolorcraft’s managing director, following his acquisition of the company in 2019, reported that the company has been having conversations with both customers and prospective customers. He added, ‘We are already talking with them about commissioning different tests and print samples and discussing the benefits of the investment. It’s generating a real enthusiasm among customers and colleagues, and the knowledge that the machine is being installed has certainly helped conversations with prospective customers.
Another advantage Kolorcraft saw was the responsiveness of the EFI team, and the ability for technical support to easily travel to their location from Valencia if needed. ‘The training is the most in-depth, thorough process I’ve been involved in,’ Mr Herrington explained. ’To be perfectly honest, I’ve commissioned large-scale litho and flexo hybrid machines in the past. And none of those had the same sort of depth of involvement that I have seen from EFI in this process. So, it gives us a lot of confidence in the performance of the printer and its future support.’
