The direct-to-substrate printer and the cutter have helped the firm to streamline the production of work that previously involved printing and mounting before being outsourced for die-cutting. One example is bespoke boxes for promotional products that the Phoenix Colour specialises in.

"It has simplified our short-run packaging and prototyping for clients such as Winsor & Newton," said company owner Peter Davis. "We recently completed a job for 200 boxes in a range of sizes from A3 up to 30" wide.

With the new equipment Davis is planning to grow the point-of-sale side of the business by some 25% in the next year.

Three quarters of the die-cutting work that is used to outsource is now produced on the Zünd, reducing tooling and outworking costs and reducing turnaround times.

"The Zünd hasn’t stopped working since it went in, we even cut our vinyls on it now," said Davis.
The Arizona was chosen because of its high image quality.

£25,000 of the £250,000 investment was funded by the Government’s Regional Growth Fund, secured via RBS Lombard. "It was opportune, I was looking at flatbeds machines when they approached us, and it enabled me to make the decision," said Davis.

The 13-staff firm has also taken on an apprentice.

In addition to the new flatbed kit Phoenix operates Epson and Mimaki roll-fed wide-format printers, HP Indigo 5500, Xeikon 500 and Presstek 52DI presses and offers high-end scanning and retouching services.