Installed at the end of January, the roll-to-roll M5W comes with five print channels in CMYKW UV gel inks, allowing for bright, textured prints, with which FaberExposize will experiment over the coming weeks.
The 1.6m engine, bought from Canon partner CMYUK, has joined the print firm’s fleet of larger 3.2m machines, including Agfa Jeti Tauro 650sqm/hr UV press.
“Most of our machines are big, hairy ones, so having a machine that is a little bit more agile for smaller print runs has really strengthened our offering, and will make us more efficient in production,” FaberExposize managing director Iain Clasper-Cotte told Printweek.
Clasper-Cotte explained that FaberExposize, which originally specialised in fabric printing – especially under its Northern Flags brand – has increasingly been experimenting with new media like board and acrylics.
“Now over 60% of what we print is UV rather than [dye-] sublimation, and that’s on a far wider variety of substrates,” he said.
“We don’t want to stop bigger print runs in order to do 20 units here, 15 units there – and that’s where the Colorado really hits the sweet spot. It also has some really sexy functionality, because it’s a gel printer, so the inks offer a different level of flexibility and allow us to offer textured prints.”
The M5W can also be loaded with several different rolls of material at one time, helping operators switch between jobs quickly.
“Having that alongside the Tauro means we’ll be able to switch between jobs far more quickly. If we’re doing a retail campaign, we’ll have to print 12-15 different substrates. So having the Colorado gives us a little bit of agility, which we really wanted.
“We will gradually onboard it through the quarter as we get used to its personality. I want the team to have time to play around with it, so they really understand everything they can add to what we currently do, and then we’ll have some open sessions with clients in late February or so.”
The firm’s sister company in the Netherlands already has several M5Ws installed, which will help the UK company get to grips with new applications unlocked by the machine.
“That’s a good advantage of the group partnership – we can swap ideas and learnings between companies, which really helps,” he added.
With the new printer installed, Clasper-Cotte said he was looking forward to meeting the challenges and opportunities of the new year.
FaberExposize has just been shortlisted for three awards – Customer Service Team of the Year at the Printweek Awards, and two categories at the Made in Yorkshire Awards.
“We’re really chuffed. So with those, and the printer landing, we’ve had an unusually busy start to the year.”
FaberExposize employs 55 at its Leeds site.
