UK’s first EFI Vutek 5r installed at Hollywood Monster

Print Solutions

The UK’s first EFI Vutek 5r printer has been installed at Hollywood Monster’s Birmingham headquarters. Supplied and installed by EFI distributor CMYUK, the display specialist selected the 5 metre wide machine for its ability to meet the productivity levels required by its rapidly expanding retail customer base.

Featuring high quality output with seven picolitre greyscale imaging in resolutions up to 1200 dpi, the new Vutek 5r model offers one of the fastest throughputs in its class, giving Hollywood Monster the ability to maximise quality, performance and efficiency.

Other standout features of the printer include powerful LED curing technology, feature sets such as easy and accurate double sided backlit and blackout printing, carriage height adjustment and wrinkle analyser to avoid head strikes, handling of rolls up to 750 kg; and a raft of other well thought out operator friendly features that make the 5r intuitive to use.

The printer also features an in line X-Y finishing system for cutting and slitting, which enables the production of trimmed to size print straight from the device. Hollywood Monster is now maximising its production time, with a fast print system and less downtime between jobs, thanks to this integrated cutting function.

Simon McKenzie, managing director at Hollywood Monster, explained: ‘Prior to the Vutek 5r installation, we would typically move printed output over to a cutting table for finishing. However, the 5r model’s X-Y cutting eliminates that process, removing significant delays.

‘It is not unusual for us to print off hundreds or even thousands of banners for big events. Previously they would all have needed trimming on our cutting table, or – dependent on size – even by hand. That entire process is now completed on the fly during the print process. It is a huge productivity boost.’

Simon continued, ‘Being a long time UV-LED printer user, we already expected increased reliability, instant on/off curing lamps, the ability to print sensitive and thin materials, reduced costs of replacement lamps and reduced energy consumption. However, the Vutek 5r goes beyond that and delivers a number of new features aimed at running cost and waste reduction, including higher ink efficiency and a reduction in media waste (just 40 cm of wasted material per load).

‘With multiple roll changes daily, combined with the volumes that we print, the reduction in media waste will result in us saving many thousands of square metres annually – over its lifetime, the media savings alone will make a significant contribution towards the machine’s purchase cost.’