The Coulsdon, Surrey-based point-of-sale specialist originally bought the R50i from Fujifilm in 2015.
With the device approaching six years in use, the business was aware that some of the component parts were approaching an end of support situation.
Wilmot-Budgen operations director Peter Burford said the firm had considered buying a new Onset X3 but did not actually need the higher speeds of up to 922sqm/hr provided by that model.
Instead, the firm took up Inca’s suggestion to upgrade the device to X2 specification, becoming the first customer to take advantage of this option. The X2 prints at up to 707sqm/hr.
Burford said the upgrade was attractive from a price and ROI perspective, and was carried out “bang on schedule”.
He said that since the upgrade most jobs on the 3.14mx1.6m flatbed printer were now being produced in six-pass mode, rather than eight, and the business had “pretty much doubled” productivity on the Onset from around 300-350sqm/hour to 700sqm/hour.
“Before when we had the two curing passes, six-pass was eight-pass and eight was ten in gloss mode, and we run a lot of stuff in gloss,” he explained.
The firm was also able to take advantage of the new multipurpose ink which allows a wider range of substrates to be printed on the Onset X2, making it easier to control colour quality across multiple items in a campaign.
Wilmot-Budgen production manager John Mullarkey commented: “We had a recent job that had probably seven different materials, and I think barring one they were all produced on the Inca.”
Wilmot-Budgen prints for major retailers and brands, with clients including Coca-Cola, L’Occitane and Jack Daniel’s.
The family-owned firm, which had sales of £12.2m in the year to 30 April 2020, operates from three sites encompassing some 7,435sqm.
Its production facilities include an in-house design studio with mock-up capabilities, litho printing with B1 and B2 five-colour Speedmaster presses, and a digital printing setup that includes the Inca Onset X2, Screen Truepress Jet 3200, two HP DesignJet Z6200 printers, and a Konica Minolta C6000.
Wilmot-Budgen also offers die making, die cutting, mounting and assembly, laminating, in-house finishing including stitching and perfect binding, as well as packing and distribution, and fulfilment.
Inca said that a growing number of global businesses were expressing interest in the upgrade option and the Cambridge manufacturer’s End of Support services.
