Positive Camtec is supplying the wide format market with the swissQprint range of printers, which it says offer precision and flexibility
A trio of research engineers who previously worked for Zünd, also a Swiss company, established swissQprint in 2008. Zünd manufactured wide format printers and cutters. However, six years ago, Zünd decided to leave the printer market and concentrate on cutters only. Not wanting to walk away from ten years of research and development, the three decided they would set up their own company, and swissQprint was born. Together they developed all of the hardware and software.
Based in the Swiss Rhein Valley, an area renowned for its technical expertise, swissQprint emerged as a new company in 2008 after the withdrawal of Zünd from the UV printer market. Established by the former Zünd development and manufacturing team, swissQprint continues a 10-year success story with a new generation of UV flatbed printing machines.
Adriano Gut, sales and marketing manager of Positive Camtec says “Maintaining the same team that was responsible for the original, highly successful UVJet-Combi printer is a key factor in the success that swissQprint has enjoyed over the past four years. The experience of over 500 Zünd installations worldwide and attention to end user requirements, combined with Swiss precision and engineering have led to rapid growth.”
In 2011, the company doubled the size of its manufacturing facility, and now has more than 260 installations.
Adriano Gut says, “It is the precision which translates to quality combined with speed that makes the swissQprint range stand out.”
He points out that the modularity of the swissQprint system offers flexibility for growth. This means that you can purchase a base model machine today, and have it field upgraded at anytime to add in more heads for speed, or to increase colour gamut, or to add features such as white, varnish and primer. Also the roll-to-roll system and oversize board option can be added on at a later stage. “This means that the swissQprint machines can grow with your business.“
There are three printers in the range, Oryx, Impala and Nyala.
Oryx
The most competitively priced unit is the Oryx, offering a flatbed printing area of 2500mm x 1600mm and handles panels up to 400 kg in weight and 50 mm in thickness.
All swissQprint machines utilise UV-cured ink that adheres lastingly to surfaces as difficult as acrylic and coreflute sheet, and the ink does not crack during the cutting process. Gut says, “Banding is unheard-of with the Oryx, even on large areas of single colour. Beyond that, its strengths include edge sharpness on tiny lettering, lines and geometrical shapes – this thanks to a visual print resolution of up to 1350 dpi.”
The intelligent control unit of the Oryx steers the print head with micrometre precision and uses algorithms for placing individual droplets of ink. Full-bleed printing is possible and should the printing table catch some ink in the process, the anodised surface is easily cleaned ready for the next job.
Impala
Marketed as versatile and robust, the 190sqm an hour UV printer Impala is a digital direct printing system that is expandable as required. Based on the same chassis as the Oryx, the Impala adds in double size print heads for double the speed of the Oryx, and offers nine channels compared to eight on the Oryx. The standard CMYK may be supplemented by as many as five additional channels – including varnish, or primer for printing onto media that have traditionally resisted inkjet methods.
All swissQprint machines are supplied standard with a steplessly adjustable vacuum system that retains standard panels just as securely as heat-sensitive substrates and fabrics. The printing table, anodised for easy maintenance, can carry media as heavy as 400kg. In contrast to this robust construction, printing is high precision. The intelligent controller positions every droplet with micrometre exactitude. Solid colour areas are a particular speciality of swissQprint UV flatbed printers.
Nyala
With a print size of 3.2m x 1.6m and speed of up to 200sqm an hour Gut says the Nyala is convincing with its compelling modularity. The graphic industry and industrial customers alike can configure the machine to suit their needs.
The full width roll-to-roll option for printing on mesh, banner, vinyl and similar material unwinds roll material precisely. The board option boasts a clever transport method for oversized rigid substrates, expanding the print area a vast size of 3.2 m x 4 m. And the reverse vacuum of the large format printer Nyala allows even heaviest media to float across the printing table on a cushion of air.
The large format printer Nyala offers all of these options as well as nine colour channels. And again, flexibility is granted. In addition to CMYK, it is equally capable of handling white, light/special colours, effect varnish and even primer for printing on glass. All in all the Nyala is a prime example of efficiency.
Tandem
Tandem Printing is the latest innovation by swissQprint and is available for all three models of swissQprint UV flatbed printers; the Nyala, Impala and Oryx, allowing the machines to be set up for continuous printing.
According to the company is ideal for printers that require greater output for continuous production. Tandem printing allows you to run jobs on the front and rear of the table completely independently. This means that after loading precut sheets on the front of the flatbed table and starting the print job, the operator can immediately load more sheets on the rear half. Once the first sheets are printed the print carriage moves to the rear and continues printing. The operator then unloads the printed sheets at the front of the work area and loads the next sheets. Production continues non-stop until the print run is complete.
The new Tandem function is designed for high production of precut substrates. Tandem can combine the digital process with screen or offset, allowing printers to personalise large preprinted runs, or apply special features like spot varnish.
The tandem operation comes as standard with the Nyala model and is available as an option for the Oryx and Impala modes.
CMP buys second swissQprint – just four months after first
Sydney based litho, digital and display print operation Clarke Murphy Print has just installed its second swissQprint wide format printer - just four months after putting its first in.
CMP began life in 1979 when Ken Murphy, a fourth generation printer, bought a single colour GTO and put it in his garage. Fast forward a third of a century, and Clarke Murphy now stands as one of the best examples around of a progressive growing print shop. Taking advantage of the opportunities it now has three divisions: offset, digital and wide format. Ken Murphy has now been joined by his son Benn, and two other directors Matthew Ogg and Bruno Kuhar.
Offset printing remains the core of the business but, five years ago, the company entered the digital world, and has since bought three HP Indigos. Benn Murphy says, “Digital was a natural progression for us, we were able to provide new services for our clients, and for us it is all about servicing the client.”
Following this strategy, the company entered the wide format world 18 months ago, with Matt Ogg charged with developing the business. He says, “We recognised that our clients wanted a full service from us, which included wide format. So we set about creating a full wide format service operation.” This meant installing HP wide format print solutions and a cutting table.
The business developed rapidly, thanks to the company following its strategy of customer service and, a year later, it needed to seriously upgrade its capacity. Ogg says, “We went to Visual Impact in the Gold Coast which is where we first saw Positive Camtec exhibit the swissQprint UV flatbed solution, and were immediately impressed with its speed and precision, as well as the versatility of its capacity to print on virtually anything. Then we went to drupa, visited a swissQprint site in Munich and were convinced that swissQprint was the solution for us.”
By the end of June, the company had installed its 2.5m wide Impala, which was fully configured with 18 print heads, roll-to-roll and oversize board option. Ogg says, “We don’t do things by half here. Our customers come first and we wanted to ensure that we could handle everything they threw at us and more.”
The first Impala quadrupled the production capacity for the company; the super quick output, on the one hand satisfying customer demand, on the other creating yet more. Ogg says, “Our ability to produce high quality work really quickly has hit a nerve with our customers. This has meant we have had to invest in a second swissQprint machine to ensure we stay ahead of demand.” The new printer is the bigger Nyala, a 3.2m wide x 1.6m flatbed printer with a full width roll-to-roll, configured as a four x CMYK with 16 print heads, achieving a maximum print speed of 200sqm an hour.
Clarke Murphy Print is clearly doing something right. In these straitened times, it is in the minority of printers that are investing and moving forward. Benn Murphy says, “There are two types of printer as far as I can see. Those that meet customer deadlines and those that don’t; those that invest in new technology and those that don’t. We are firmly in the first camp.”
Trumble: service for clients
Long time Positive Camtec manager Philip Trumble has become the new managing director of Positive Camtec, replacing Ray Clake, who had been in the role for the past 20 years.
Following a career span of 18 years with Positive Camtec, Trumble has experience in all facets of the industry – technical, applications and sales. He was technical manager at the company before his appointment as managing director.
Trumble says “Whenever there are structural changes within a company, focus and direction can be affected to some degree. With my appointment, the company as a whole has renewed direction and clarity, resulting in greater enthusiasm for our team and better service for our clients. We have already taken on new products to our range, and we look forward to offering more innovative products to the industry over time.”
He says, “This year saw our 20 year anniversary – it’s amazing to think we have been running for 20 years already, and that I have been with the company for 18 of those years. It’s a great commitment to the industry in general and an achievement our whole team is proud of.”
“Positive Camtec has a long history of strong technical knowledge and competence. For years our company was only comprised of technicians and we grew simply by word of mouth. Our sales team today is comprised of members with strong technical background in our industry. I believe this is what sets Positive Camtec apart from the competition, and it is an area we will continue to focus on.
“We have never been ‘box movers’- always value added specialists. By continuing to build our team, both in numbers and in education, in research and development of new products and markets I believe we will have an increasing impact on the market and continued growth.”
