Graphic & Paper Merchants Ireland made a decision a few years ago to add self charging and plug-in Hybrid vehicles to our sales and engineering fleet of cars, today we have taken it a step further and added an full electric car to the fleet, this is our first step towards a totally green fleet. Keep a eye out for Mark Doyle calling on you in his new #teslamodel3 #electricvehicle #tesla #electricvehicles #electriccars
When Waterford-based Park Graphics set about specifying print hardware for its ambitious start-up project, the team’s requirements were as big as their plans. “We needed a wide format printer that could give us the scope to grow, deliver a wide range of products to our customers and have the capacity to cope with large print runs,” recalled owner, Garry Walshe. “As a young business, we also wanted to hit the ground running, so another important factor was ensuring we had the right training and support from a partner.”
Settling on a system based around a Mimaki CJV300-160 and matching LA-160 laminator, Park Graphics invested in the kit through authorised Mimaki partner, GPMI. “I very quickly realised that the Mimaki would be a great base for a business,” continues Walshe. “It can produce such a wide variety of products – from fully printed vehicle graphics, to wall & floor wraps, to signs, banners and posters.”
Walshe is also quick to reference the important role that GPMI played in the investment. “The phenomenal service GPMI provided has made an incredible difference. They are on call whenever you have a question, need help with a certain job or just some additional training on all the different settings you can use!” he exudes. “Equally, the reliability of the Mimaki kit has been top class too.”
The Mimaki CJV300-160 is a 1.6m wide solvent printer/cutter with a formidable reputation in the sign and graphics sector. Capable of volume production it uses Mimaki’s SS21 wide colour gamut inks and prints at up to 1,440dpi. With a powered take-up roll it’s also capable of running unattended and with the business growing at a rapid rate, the production capacity of the CJV300 soon came to the fore at Park Graphics. “We’re able to plan our day around printing,” he says. “If you have a big job on, you can load the Mimaki up and even let it print through the night; you don’t have to sit over it and watch its every move, so it’s a top class machine in that sense,” recounts Walshe.
Bernard Hoy, sales executive at GPMI sees great opportunity ahead for Park Graphics. “The energy and enthusiasm that Garry and his young team possess is matched by their capacity to take on jobs from start to finish,” he says. “The breadth of work they’ve already installed is hugely impressive.”
In addition to delivering numerous vehicle graphics jobs, Park Graphics uses its Mimaki system for wide ranging work, from signs and banners right up to high end interior décor designs, with a kitchen recently fitted out with easy to maintain, mosaic-effect printed splashbacks and concrete-style door fronts. “In reality, we’ll take on almost anything,” says Walshe. “Our designers are as capable of delivering eye-catching sign and display graphics as they are cut out pink unicorn stickers!”
With plenty on the cards for Park Graphics, the ambitious business is anticipating rapid expansion. “Although we’re a fairly young company, it feels like we’re already making a mark. Our passion is in delivering start to finish branding application services; we’ll take jobs from initial creative, through production and ultimately installing them, so our Mimaki print and finishing equipment plays a hugely important part in that,” concludes Walshe.
Henderson Print, located in Belfast, has invested in a wide format Agfa Anapurna H2500i LED press taking them into “a new and more profitable market for the business”, according to Head of Print for the company, Alan Ritchie.
The business started as the print department for the highly successful, £800m turnover Henderson Group**. They appointed Alan Ritchie 34 years ago to expand the print business by attracting work from outside the group. Today, with an annual turnover of more than £3m, over half of which is work obtained outside the Henderson Group of companies, Henderson Print has invested in this new hybrid machine to grow the wide format division of their business.
Henderson Print is an established litho print provider that has been located on its current site in Michelin Road since the acquisition of Dargan Press two and half years ago. They now have 29 employees and run two B2 five-colour presses and a B2 two-colour press. They already have four Roland roll-to-roll wide format printers and this latest investment adds a Kongsberg plotter cutter machine working alongside the Agfa Anapurna H2500i LED digital wide-format press run by the Agfa Asanti workflow solution.
The company did have the advantage of knowing that the wide format business they could pitch for from the group alone was financial justification enough for a new Agfa Anapurna. Albeit that they have to compete for sister company business on price, just like any other provider. They purchased the new Agfa kit through their print supplier GPMI*, with whom they’ve had a long working relationship.
“WE WERE BLOWN AWAY WITH THE DEMO PROVIDED BY GPMI. IT REALLY SOLD THE AGFA ENGINE TO US.”
“We were looking for a flat bed wide format printing solution so we could print on rigid substrates. We visited the Sign and Display exhibition at the NEC in Birmingham to assess the options last year.” Said Alan Ritchie. “On our return we were given a demonstration on an Agfa Anapurna by Alan O’Brien, Director of Technology at GPMI. We were simply blown away by the demo in their Dublin showroom. Everything ran perfectly, and we were really impressed by the quality of the print. Agfa has a great reputation for product innovation and quality in the industry. That, coupled with the fact that Peter Doyle from Agfa is very responsive to our needs and of course an attractive price and service contract, meant that David Brennan at GPMI quickly closed the deal.”
The installation of the Agfa Anapurna H2500i LED went smoothly and to date Henderson Print has had very little down time on the kit. They insisted on having Alan O’Brien from GPMI carry out the training as they highly rate his technical ability and the production employees within Henderson Print know him well.
The Anapurna H2500i LED printer is a high-speed hybrid UV LED-curable inkjet press with a printing width of 2.5m for indoor and outdoor applications. It has been designed to use minimal ink, using Agfa’s ‘Thin Ink Layer Technology’, helping to keep the cost of consumables down and offering an environmental advantage too. The LED-curable lamps also use less power and reduce set-up time by not having to wait for bulbs to warm up.
The Agfa Asanti workflow is a complete, automated sign and display production hub featuring a colour management solution, integration with the latest version of Adobe PDF Print Engine (APPE), highly specific functionalities (e.g. nesting, see-through concept, proofing support) and fast, automatic pre-flighting. It will streamline Henderson’s workflow simplifying their processes.
“WE ARE SUPER IMPRESSED WITH THE SHARPNESS, DEFINITION AND COLOUR STRENGTH.”
“We see a lot of our future expansion coming from the digital wide format side of our business.” Concluded Alan Ritchie. There will always be a market for litho, but I don’t see it growing at the rate we require and the investment size for a new litho press would be upwards of £1.5m. The wide format market is financially easier to access, and the market opportunity is there. The Anapurna quality is superb, even our customers are blown away with the sharpness, definition and colour strength of image. We are super impressed. It also allows us to get creative in what we offer. It’s great for small print runs which can be personalized to gives us a point of difference to sell in the future.”
August 21st, 2018
Dear Customer/Supplier
Allied Graphics and Equipment to become part of GPMI.
We are pleased to announce that Graphic & Paper Merchant Holdings LTD (GPMI) has signed an agreement to acquire Allied Graphics and Equipment (NI) Limited with completion expected from September 3rd 2018.
Allied Graphics established in 1984 is a successful family run business, supplying pre-press and finishing solutions from leading manufacturers. In April 2000 they purchased Walter Nash Belfast, adding to their already strong portfolio of finishing and press room products. The company trades on a strong customer service philosophy which is highly complementary to the GPMI business in Northern Ireland. Allied will bring new products to our portfolio, allowing us to expand further our offering to our customer base.
As a valued customer we are available for any questions you might have (email below). Thank you for your custom and we look forward to continuing to provide you with the best customer service in the industry.
simon@alliedgraphics.co.uk
eoin.honan@gpmi.ie
sonny.vance@gpmi.co.uk
PRESS RELEASE – Sandy, UK . 31st July July 2018.
New Watkiss booklet maker has wider range of applications for digital printers
Watkiss Automation Ltd announces the launch of a new booklet maker in the PowerSquare range. The PSQ160-WH is a hand-feed booklet maker for short run work, designed for flexible applications in a wide range of media sizes including long sheets and larger formats that existing options on the market.
As more digital presses from companies such as Canon, Konica Minolta, Ricoh and Xerox can print duplex on long sheets, there is a growing demand for A4 landscape and other large format booklets.
Paul Attew, sales director at Watkiss explains “The hand-feed PSQ160-WH is ideal for this type of application. It is a very practical solution for low volume digital printed jobs, where ease of set-up and flexible media sizes are important – and where you can be confident that book quality is never compromised”.
The PSQ160-WH is an ‘all-in-one’ booklet maker that also includes face trimming and square spine forming integral to the machine. As such, it has a small footprint meaning it will easily fit into any print environment.
It produces SquareBack™ books that lie flat, stack easily and allow printing on the spine. Superior book quality is a feature of all PowerSquare booklet makers. The system uses in-process spine forming and automatic adjustment for book thickness, with auto folder mode, to optimise performance quality on thin and thick booklets.
For ease of use, it has fully automatic setup using a tile-based user interface with touch and swipe functionality which will be familiar and intuitive to all smart phone users. It includes pre-set standard sizes and the ability to store custom job sizes.
The wide media range process input sizes from 200 x 200mm to 370 x 620mm; with stock weights from 60 to 400gsm. Finished booklet sizes can range from 120 x 78mm to 370 x 305mm, and so encompass all popular booklet applications such as A4 landscape, 12 x 12 inches, DL size (99 x 210mm) and CD booklets, which can all be completed in a single pass.
The PSQ160-WH uses a zero-maintenance low impact stapling mechanism with moving clinches for flat, well-formed staples over the full range from 2 to 40 sheets. The adjustable staple pitch ensures the best staple position to suit the book size and extra high tensile staples ensure reliable performance on coated and thick papers.
The PSQ160-WH can also be fitted with the optional P2T Side Trimmer that trims the top and bottom of the book for full-bleed colour applications.
It is ideal for short run manuals, magazines, programmes, academic journals, financial reports and education materials.
The PSQ160-WH is available immediately, and will be on show for the first time at The Print Show at the NEC in September.
Swiftbrook to become part of GPMI, but business as usual
We are pleased to inform you that Graphic and Paper Merchants Holdings Limited (“GPMI”) has signed an agreement to acquire the Swiftbook business from Essentra Packaging Ireland Limited, with completion of the transaction expected before end-O3 2018.
Swiftbrook is highly complementary to GPMl’s activities in Ireland, sharing a focus on providing customers with value-added solutions through the use of technologies, systems and production capabilities.
Business as usual
We would like to stress that right now for all our customers and suppliers it is “business as usual”, with Essentra continuing to manage the business until completion of the acquisition.
As a valued customer, we shall continue to remain in contact with you providing a comprehensive update on the proposed developments for our business. Should you have any initial questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at WarrenBrennan@essentra.com or your sales representative.
For your interest, further information on GPMI can be found at www.gpmi.ie
