Eleven years ago, the company formerly known as Signs Plus Visuals changed its name to BrandVizion and invested in Electronics For Imaging, Inc.'s EFI VUTEk UV inkjet ultra-wide format printer. The investment has paid off: the business has soared, and the metro area company that has set up Washington, DC is on a growth track, which will lead to its continued expansion and provide high-quality display graphics. Now, on the cusp of new growth opportunities, company owner John McManus and his team at BrandVizion are working on developing new features and versatility to achieve growth through their latest investment, namely the EFI VUTEk h5 hybrid flat/roll-to-roll UV LED ultra-wide format printer.

Kiley Gonzalez, president of the company based in Chantilly, Virginia, has high hopes for a printer that will once again give BrandVizion a technological leader among local competitors. In the past, the company was one of the first and few companies in the region to operate high-end hybrid and flatbed inkjet printers. However, as other nearby companies inevitably upgraded their technology, Gonzalez and her team at BrandVizion sought an updated, leading solution - and were excited about the VUTEk h5 printer.

Size and speed were the main factors in the decision to upgrade to the h5 model earlier this year. "Printing press operators love the new printer," Gonzalez said. "If they have to complain about anything, it is that h5 may be too fast." She explained that in the past, an operator would print the job, and then, when the printing was completed, the same employee would take over the work and handle the required cutting or Organize tasks.

Now, the job is printing so fast that the second employee takes over the printing to start cutting and completing the task as each job runs. BrandVizion's display graphics throughput has increased significantly, so much so that BrandVizion is very satisfied with the additional and efficient use of labor required to complete more work per shift.

Trade work is taking off

The machine also uses ink in a more complex way, thereby increasing production and reducing waste-both of which make BrandVizion's wholesale prices more competitive.

"There are many signage merchants and brokers in our area who advertise for signage and graphic production and turn to companies like ours for production," Gonzalez explained. "We can become more radical and eventually have to set new price standards for those wholesale customers."

As a result of saving ink costs, the company is now engaged in a business that was once rejected. "Now," McManus said, "we are at the best time to make money, offer competitive prices, and complete it within a tight deadline."

This 126-inch wide printer provides excellent imaging at a resolution of up to 1,200 dots per inch. VUTEk h5 allows eight-color printing, or—using its extended color gamut four-color ink in a CMYKx2 configuration—provides high-quality output at a speed of up to 109 plates per hour. The printer’s UltraDrop technology 7pL grayscale print head has true multi-droplet addressing capabilities, high-definition printing and clear text quality, with excellent smoothness in shadows, gradients and transitions.

Compared with traditional UV or latex printers, the "cold curing" UV LED imaging on the VUTEk h5 reduces the energy required for curing or drying. In addition, BrandVizion can operate its new printers with thin or challenging substrates that cannot withstand the heat required by mercury arc UV or latex printers.

BrandVizion customers are benefiting from the printer's ability to provide more efficient and effective graphics display. Gonzalez cited the example of a BrandVizion customer who believed that it had to use hand-painted murals for a project, and that the leafy and wooden appearance of its logo was difficult to reproduce on a digital printer. However, BrandVizion was able to use multi-layer printing on the new VUTEk h5 printer to faithfully recreate the designs of its customers with minimal time and cost.

"Layered printing is indeed an area we want to break into, because there is a huge market for indoor wallpaper printing and decorative films," Gonzalez said. "Before we get a new printer, we can print gradient film, but it's difficult to figure out how to set up the file, prepare it in a certain way, and use it under certain settings."

"On VUTEk h5, we have been able to print custom gradient prints for multiple customers, which is a huge high-end product," McManus said. "This is a very luxurious finished product that has helped us retain customers. Decorative films and murals are exactly what we plan to use new technologies for."

VUTEk quality drives continuous growth

The new printer is the next step in the company's success, which has been leveraging the premium quality of EFI VUTEk printers for many years. BrandVizion's main customers are construction and property management companies, which rely on the company's murals, floor graphics and architectural packaging. The company is able to output high-impact colors on dark printed substrates - the company has been achieving this by printing four-color graphics on the highly opaque white ink available on EFI VUTEk printers - which makes BrandVizion sharp. "Artistic" advantage According to Gonzalez, the client.

“We have asked the customer to bring the entire wall panel for printing so that it can be installed in the building on-site during construction,” she recalled. "A local restaurant called Lincoln's Restaurant actually brought us bathroom doors. These doors are metal and look rusty. One door has Abraham's face printed on it, and the other has Mary Todd printed on it. s face."

The company's production managers and printing operators Myles Proseus and David Eberenz also used this new technology to meet customers' increasing demands for same-day or next-day delivery by relying on their EFI VUTEk solution. "As the level of customer expectations increases, we can catch up with our equipment investment," Gonzalez said.

Like almost all businesses, the COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a heavy blow to the printing industry, even though social distancing information provides a new source of income.

VUTEk h5 also helped boost the morale of the BrandVizion team. "When you get a new piece of equipment, it will cause a lot of sensation. Whenever our production staff receive training on the new equipment, it will build confidence and let us have something to say to the customer. This makes everyone in the store Personal morale is high, especially last year, which is very difficult," Gonzalez said.

As Gonzalez said, the printer acquisition provides BrandVizion with an opportunity to "operate lean, keep costs low, and move on."

"In a highly competitive market, printing companies need powerful solutions to bring greater value to their customers," said Todd Zimmerman, vice president and general manager of Display Graphics EFI. "The high productivity, excellent quality, and extraordinary versatility provided by the VUTEk h5 hybrid printer give important impetus to the work that BrandVizion is doing to strengthen its reputation as a top sign and graphics supplier."

The previous press release was provided by a company that has nothing to do with printing impressions. The opinions expressed therein do not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of the printed impression.

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