By Cassandra Balentine
Part 1 of 4
Manufacturers look to wide format flatbed printers for a variety of applications that require the ability to print directly onto rigid substrates, production speeds, and high quality. However, recently, smaller format UV flatbed printers have gained attention. These devices tend to offer a smaller footprint, lower investment cost, and support thicker materials, enabling mechanical components printing.
Small Format Potential
Small Format UV flatbed devices are attractive to a variety of printing and manufacturing environments. They appeal to those already providing wide format printing as a way to add services and revenue potential.
“Printing on custom products is an endless opportunity and could be anything from book covers to metal bicycle parts. Adding a flatbed UV printer could really open up some new doors and help increase profits,” says Paul Green, research and development, OmniPrint International.
Jay Roberts, UV product manager, Roland DGA Corporation, sees a trend towards custom consumer products and promotional items. “The public’s increasing desire to personalize just about everything is translating into nearly unlimited growth opportunities for on demand printing onto an ever-widening range of items,” explains Roberts. He adds that more businesses use these printers for custom printing accessories, products, and gifts.
“Desktop UV LED flatbed printers offer a wider range of materials to print on and bring opportunities to capture new customers in new markets where they may not be playing with their current print technology,” shares David Conrad, director, sales and marketing, Mutoh America, Inc.
“Smaller UV LED printers can be leveraged for many aspects including prototyping and testing. They can use it to maximize profits on short-run projects or offer products to existing customers that they can’t do on the wide format machines, like ADA/Braille signage and water bottles,” adds Michael Perrelli, marketing manager, Direct Color Systems.
Josh Hope, senior manager, industrial printing business development and marketing, Mimaki USA, Inc., explains that these units only need a small workspace area and can be placed in an office environment, requiring no special room or electrical requirements. Additionally, the operational learning curve is short, as they tend to fit well into existing workflows. “Depending on the product mix, the supplies inventory—such as rigid media and even inks—may overlap, so there may be no additional investment required in this area,” he adds.
“These machines are used in the promotional products market segment where items are smaller and require fixtures for registration purposes. They are also becoming popular with the traditional screen and pad printers as it gives them the ability to print four-color efficiently and run small jobs with variable text economically,” says Chuck McGettrick, sales manager, digital inks, Marabu North America.
Juan Kim, CEO, Valloy Incorporation, suggests while wide format printers focus on productivity, smaller flatbeds are more focused on flexibility and functionality, like better control of UV curing and pinning for spot glossy effects or semi-3D printing by layered printing.
Promotional Products, Prototyping, and More
Small format flatbeds are an ideal offering for a number of work environments. Their capabilities are essential as more buyers in all industries look for quick turnarounds and high-quality output. The second part of this four-part series studies the ink sets found in small format flatbed devices.
Click here to read part two of this exclusive online series, Critical Ink.
Jan2018, Industrial Print Magazine