The company in Bewdley bought an an Oris Flex Pack system comprising a Roland VersaCamm VSI 300 inkjet printer with XG inks, and a Roland VersaUV LEF300 UV inkjet printer. The VersaCamm printer and proofer prints on to a variety of substrates with inks including metallic, while th LEF300 flatbed offers finishes such as embossing and spot UV. The idea is to print with one and finish with the other.
The kit was installed two months ago and was in addition to exisiting equipment that includes an HP Indigo, Kodak Flexel NX and a Xeikon ThermoflexX CTP system. It cost £60,000.
Established 20 years ago Reproflex 3 has facilities in the north and south of England as well as in the Middle East.
"In 2002 we set up a mock-up division in Cramlington for packaging samples,” said marketing manager Benedict Moore. “It is 15% of the business but we want it to grow to 25% in the next few years.”
Reproflex 3 has 40 staff and a turnover of £2.6m but hopes to break the £3m mark within 18 months and maybe top £3.5m.
“We have an HP Indigo and complete mock-ups by hand in small to medium numbers. But creative agencies and brands are increasingly asking for physical mock-ups with special finishes applied.
“We also recently started working with a London agency that has a lot more jobs to give us on the basis that we expand our capabilities and capacity,” Moore said.
Reproflex 3 makes colour-accurate packaging mock-ups in-house. As a result of re-defining the eight-colour inkset to include orange, green, white and metallic contract-proof quality mock-ups can be achieved.
The Roland VersaUV LEF-300 prints on to a range of substrates and objects for the efficient customisation of products including branded merchandise, industrial goods, and prototypes.
It has four printheads and two UV-LED lamps and runs white and clear (gloss) ink. A high-precision custom-made punch and register system works with matte/gloss spot varnishes.
Moore added that the physical mock-up side of things was growing despite increasingly clever 3D software solutions available. He said: “We have looked at 3D software but there has never been a huge requirement from our client base. They like to see and hold the product.
“You can only go so far on screen. We can develop a number of versions and even recreate the filling. You can’t beat that.
“Having something tangible gives clients the confidence to make the final choice. There is pressure to be more creative and have more short-run versions to help products stand out on the shelf but there is a cost involved. Mock-ups help make the financial decision an easier one to take.”
He explained: “Colour accuracy is very important. While these are mock-ups they still need to be of a very high quality especially as we want to be pushing into the premium end of the market.
“The press size and colour gamut also opens massive new doors for us. With the new system we can reproduce complex finishing effects, so customers have a tactile experience when interacting with our prototypes.”
