The 1.6m-wide JV33-160, which was supplied by inkjet specialist I-Sub Digital at the end of June, cost around £15,000 and replaced an older Mimaki machine, a JV3-160.
According to Caravelle Creative managing director Ian Daniels, the company made the investment to improve productivity and quality. “We held on to our old equipment for longer than we ought to have done, and with the new machine, the difference is really noticeable,” he said. “Our output has gone up by about 300%.”
Caravelle Creative, which employs around eight staff, is using the machine to produce exhibition graphics for both indoor and outdoor applications for clients across a broad range of sectors. “People often ask for those jobs to be done by the next day, and we can do that now,” said Daniels. “It’s the modern age. People expect things to be turned around that much quicker today.”
He added that the new machine had enabled the company to take on more wide-format jobs: “Because we can trust it to run overnight we have been able to take on more of this sort of work.”
The JV33-160 is being used with Mimaki’s SS21 solvent inks, which I-Sub said are a more environmentally friendly than those used in the JV3. They are suitable for a range of substrate types and are designed to be fast drying, high density and highly scratch resistant and to offer a wide colour gamut.
I-Sub Digital director Andy Spreag added: “This is a great example of how investing in new, faster, better quality and environmentally friendlier technology can take a business forward and bring new work into a business that wasn’t possible with the old machine.”