News

On the 8^th May 2012, Taylor Bloxham and Hewlett Packard announced at Drupa the purchase of a HP Scitex FB7600 digital wide format industrial press.

Since the introduction of our dedicated Point of Sale (POS) team (FastAnt Instore) in 2011, we have seen enormous growth from zero to over one million pounds of sales.  As a result of this growth and the fact that FastAnt and Taylor Bloxham combined can now offer a truly unique single source solution for all marketing, printing, distribution and support, the board of directors and shareholders decided to pursue  the most productive, flexible and high quality wide format digital printing press.

The press is a 3.2m-wide flatbed printer and can print on a range of rigid and flexible substrates, such as corrugated board, paper, foam board, Dibond and plastics for both indoor and outdoor applications. It can print on sheets up to 1,650 x 3,200mm, up to 25mm thick. It can print at a top speed of 500m2/hr, the equivalent to 95 full beds each hour. It features a new POS print mode that produces 55 full beds an hour at a quality suitable for high quality close quarters indoor applications.

Launched in October 2011 at SGIA Expo in New Orleans, the first installation of a FB7600 in the UK was in February 2012.

The FB7600 has 312 Scitex X2 drop-on-demand piezoelectric inkjet printheads, each equipped with 128 nozzles giving a total of 39,936 nozzles which enables the press to deliver the ink quantities required to print high-quality images at high speeds.

A choice of six HP UV-curable colour inks  offer excellent dot gain and an impressive colour gamut. Preset print modes include matt, semi-gloss, gloss, spot gloss, and a new saturation mode for backlit displays.

In addition to reduced odour, the HP ink system is Greenguard Children and Schools Certified, a certification that helps ensure prints produced using the inks are suitable for use in indoor environments.

You can’t have thunder without lightening!

To accompany the FB7600 we have also invested in an Esko Kongsberg XP digital cutting table.  This is a truly exciting piece of kit that has no limits to its flexibility.

The XP is the first to be specifically designed to operate continuously in a 24/7 production environment. It can handle a combination of corrugated board and other rigid materials used for packaging, POP products and product displays. It can be used effectively to convert a wide range of packaging and display materials, including all grades of corrugated board, display carton, corrugated plastic, foam boards, and all corresponding rigid display materials such as MDF, plywood, acrylics, ACM and Forex. The machine is equipped with an automatic optical registration system for matching the structural design with the graphic elements.

Installation

The devices will be installed in FastAnt Unit 4 in early June. We aim to be fully operational by mid June. A press day will be held at the end of June where a local sports personality will cut the ribbon and launch our newest venture into high quality printing.