Big Display expands Latex offering

The HP R2000 Plus has enabled the company to say 'yes' more often
The HP R2000 Plus has enabled the company to say 'yes' more often

Family run trade printer The Big Display Company has installed an HP Latex R2000 Plus hybrid flatbed to move into new markets.

Installed at the Slough-based firm’s factory in March by reseller Papergraphics, marketing director Jack Murphy said the new machine had already helped it secure a series of high-volume Correx and Foamex jobs, and had also supported moves into new applications.

"We are big supporters of latex ink; we've seen the quality, ease of operation and the high production output it is capable of achieving, so we were keen to see what was possible with the R2000 Plus," said Murphy.

"A job that would previously have taken a couple of weeks to do, now takes the R2000 Plus a few days without any overtime, alongside printing other jobs.”

The 20-staff firm’s new 86sqm/hr machine can handle boards up to 2.5x1.2m and 100kg reels up to 2.5m wide.

The latest spend follows a raft of investment at the business last year, which included an HP Stitch S500 dye-sub from RA Smart in November and two HP roll-to-roll Latex machines, a Latex 570 and Latex 3600, both from Papergraphics, which were installed last summer.

Now the latest machine is bedded in, Murphy said the firm planned to utilise the R2000’s white ink capability to further build up its business in areas including direct-to-board on multiple substrates, bespoke short- to mid-run packaging and high-quality interior applications such as acrylic and window graphics.

"We were expecting to print white ink maybe once a week, but we are already printing jobs with white ink daily –sometimes with rolls printing overnight," he added.

“We've been able to say yes to jobs that in the past we just wouldn't have been able to get near, while meeting the tightest of deadlines.”