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Gerber Announces Discontinuation of all Flatbed Printers
- Thread starter Tom Dalton
- Start date
i just had a demo done for me and my boss at the state i can now almost guarantee they will get it for me now .:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO: hahahahahhaaahhahhhaaa
GAC05
Quit buggin' me
That's interesting, I got almost that same exact letter from Xerox, they are getting out of the wide format biz with their rebranded Mutohs.
Tough times all around, best of luck in finding a way to get a return on your investment before the service goes away.
wayne k
guam usa
Tough times all around, best of luck in finding a way to get a return on your investment before the service goes away.
wayne k
guam usa
I owned a Ion and ended up having Gerber buying it back because of all the issues I had with it. There were 3 other machines near me and most of the time there was a Gerber technician working on one of the machines. I bet all of the warranty work made them unprofitable especially when sales slowed down. Also last I checked they were heavily discounting the machines.
I just bought into an Agfa Anapurna, i wonder if this trend of ditching product lines will flow through to Agfa now they own Gandi and produces products itsself... why should they buy from a korean manufacturer when they have a factory to make the same thing.
The UV market has been flooded with dozens of different manufacturers... there has to be a fall-out...
The UV market has been flooded with dozens of different manufacturers... there has to be a fall-out...
threeputt
New Member
I would hope to have a piece of equipment after 5 years that still has residual value in the secondary market.
My Roland is about that age currently and it's worth, maybe, 35% of what I paid for it.
With the Gerber product, who knows. If someone can pick up distribution of a suitable ink (and maybe the consumable parts) this announcement and the soon-to-be discontinued line shouldn't hurt current owners.
mark in tx
New Member
If you have the machine paid off within 5 years, then I guess everything is good. Right?
ouch.
ouch.
Rooster
New Member
It's too bad this product is going away. I've heard nothing but great things about the CatUV ink. Unfortunately it was always followed the phrase "but it's really really slow".
Perhaps Gerber could cut their losses and ensure a transition for their users by selling the ink technology to a competitor?
Perhaps Gerber could cut their losses and ensure a transition for their users by selling the ink technology to a competitor?
ADDI Printing
New Member
I received the same e-mail yesterday and was shocked.
We purchased our Cat after seeing it perform at the SGIA show in Vegas in October 2010. We were very excited to step into the flatbed market from our roll to roll, HP 8000 printer. Ironically we purchased our HP several months before they decided they were discontinuing that model. Unable to upgrade to Windows 7 (lack of drivers from HP) and the expected increase in parts and inks we figured it was probably best to upgrade.
We were impressed with the performance and thought it was a great entry level flatbed for the $85,000 price tag. We received our printer November 6th and had it installed and ready to run on the 9th.
After the two day "dog and pony show" training, we began to run several jobs we waited on putting into production to test on the new "toy". As we were printing the third 4'x8', the technician was packing his tools to head back to Connecticut; we lost a black ink solenoid and dumped black ink all over the material. He actually had a spare part in his bag and stayed late to get us back up and running.
What followed was months of endless technician visits and production shut downs. We would have the most ridiculous problems with the printer when it was needed most. One of which was during the production of 150 banners for the Capital One Bank Final Four tournament that had an absolute deadline. The printer would start out fine, print about half way through an 8' run, and just shut down and give an error code. Later found to be a gasket hitting the encoder, it took three technician visits to fix the issue. It took about 2 months to work all the bugs out and we finally feel that it seems to be running fine now.
I'm not sure if any others who bought one of the Cat's had the same amount of issues we have, but I can see how quickly a company can eat through their profit margin when you constantly have to send technicians out to repair a product under warranty with air, hotel, and other travel expenses.
I was completely blindsided by the e-mail notice stating Gerber was discontinuing their flatbed line and have yet to call into customer service for fear of what I might say and burn a bridge with the technicians I am sure I will need in the future. Although I am extremely disappointed at their decision to discontinue their printers, you can't really fight with their logic in doing so. As with any business, sometimes you have to cut your losses and go back to what is profitable for you.
I will say that Gerber was always responsive to any problems we had with the printer and always had a technician there to repair it within 1-2 days. They even sent us four new ink cartridges after one of the technicians had to purge the lines after a solenoid replacement. At $250.00 per cartridge it was a great surprise.
Luckily, after learning our lesson about how fast the digital printing industry changes with the forced obsolescence of the HP printer we had, we decided to lease this printer. What the lease Company does after the 5 year lease is over is their problem.
We purchased our Cat after seeing it perform at the SGIA show in Vegas in October 2010. We were very excited to step into the flatbed market from our roll to roll, HP 8000 printer. Ironically we purchased our HP several months before they decided they were discontinuing that model. Unable to upgrade to Windows 7 (lack of drivers from HP) and the expected increase in parts and inks we figured it was probably best to upgrade.
We were impressed with the performance and thought it was a great entry level flatbed for the $85,000 price tag. We received our printer November 6th and had it installed and ready to run on the 9th.
After the two day "dog and pony show" training, we began to run several jobs we waited on putting into production to test on the new "toy". As we were printing the third 4'x8', the technician was packing his tools to head back to Connecticut; we lost a black ink solenoid and dumped black ink all over the material. He actually had a spare part in his bag and stayed late to get us back up and running.
What followed was months of endless technician visits and production shut downs. We would have the most ridiculous problems with the printer when it was needed most. One of which was during the production of 150 banners for the Capital One Bank Final Four tournament that had an absolute deadline. The printer would start out fine, print about half way through an 8' run, and just shut down and give an error code. Later found to be a gasket hitting the encoder, it took three technician visits to fix the issue. It took about 2 months to work all the bugs out and we finally feel that it seems to be running fine now.
I'm not sure if any others who bought one of the Cat's had the same amount of issues we have, but I can see how quickly a company can eat through their profit margin when you constantly have to send technicians out to repair a product under warranty with air, hotel, and other travel expenses.
I was completely blindsided by the e-mail notice stating Gerber was discontinuing their flatbed line and have yet to call into customer service for fear of what I might say and burn a bridge with the technicians I am sure I will need in the future. Although I am extremely disappointed at their decision to discontinue their printers, you can't really fight with their logic in doing so. As with any business, sometimes you have to cut your losses and go back to what is profitable for you.
I will say that Gerber was always responsive to any problems we had with the printer and always had a technician there to repair it within 1-2 days. They even sent us four new ink cartridges after one of the technicians had to purge the lines after a solenoid replacement. At $250.00 per cartridge it was a great surprise.
Luckily, after learning our lesson about how fast the digital printing industry changes with the forced obsolescence of the HP printer we had, we decided to lease this printer. What the lease Company does after the 5 year lease is over is their problem.
We got the email from Gerber about the discontinuation of their flatbed printers wed. said they would have someone call us the next day.... ya.. because they knew we'd be pissed and wanted us to cool off before they talked to us. ..And the guy they had call us was Steve Albert, I googled him, his title is "Senior Strategic Accounts Manager"..... Strategic accounts..........they knew there'd be issues.... I've only had this for 1year & a half.... It won't even be paid for by the time that they cancel inks & service... I'm not a very happy camper... I would love to get your thoughts on the situation, I would appreciate some input. We need to get together and do something about this, they need to take them back or refund or trade or something... this is not right. Our printer had been having many problems in the beginning, but now it is working alright, although we have been getting customer reports on the ink fading on outdoor signs. please feel free to email me gary@yorksigns.com or you can call our shop 207-474-9331 we are in Maine. Something needs to happen, class action suit or re-imbursement... anything.........- Gary York - York Signs
Biker Scout
New Member
We were considering picking one up ourselves, especially after seeing it in person at the SGIA Show in Vegas. The price didn't seem too bad for what you got. Plus Gerber has always stood behind their products.
I'm pretty sure that the ink won't just disappear in 5 years. Especially, since they don't actually make it in-house. Ink is a huge revenue stream for every printer manufacturer. So they try to guard that with scary sounding terms, "3rd Part Ink May Void Your Warranty" and other such nonsense. (Not legal, BTW) When all they have to do is collect your money and pass along the order to be fulfilled by someone else, why not continue to offer the ink to shops still running the printer?
I'm almost hoping that this announcement brings a significant reduction in price for the machine! If we pick up one now, and can't make our money back in 5 years, then we are the fools in business. Flatbed/Direct to Substrate Printing is hugely profitable... if done right. Plus that machine does print really well, in terms of resolution, albiet slower than the competition. The lack of white does kind of suck, but if the price goes down, not a deal breaker. Since it does have the best ink adhesion in the market.
I'm pretty sure that the ink won't just disappear in 5 years. Especially, since they don't actually make it in-house. Ink is a huge revenue stream for every printer manufacturer. So they try to guard that with scary sounding terms, "3rd Part Ink May Void Your Warranty" and other such nonsense. (Not legal, BTW) When all they have to do is collect your money and pass along the order to be fulfilled by someone else, why not continue to offer the ink to shops still running the printer?
I'm almost hoping that this announcement brings a significant reduction in price for the machine! If we pick up one now, and can't make our money back in 5 years, then we are the fools in business. Flatbed/Direct to Substrate Printing is hugely profitable... if done right. Plus that machine does print really well, in terms of resolution, albiet slower than the competition. The lack of white does kind of suck, but if the price goes down, not a deal breaker. Since it does have the best ink adhesion in the market.
charlesmiller
New Member
charlie miller owner signs by C & s ENTERPRISES
I have a solura uv2 I that I just purchased a year ago and put it in another print shop we were going in partnership on this machine , he had all kinds of trouble in his shop and could not pay his half of the equipment. it she in his shop for a year I finely got it from him and paid his half off. I am having touble getting it to run from the flexi 10 program that I currently use. and gerber stated that until I switch to onyx they will ot help me. I hope I get it going before the 5 year time runs out. does anyone know how to get flexi to run this machine. the uv2 see the computer and recieves a ping when tested and it also runs a good nozzle test. but when I send a job I get an error message saying it cant send the print task to the printer.
I have a solura uv2 I that I just purchased a year ago and put it in another print shop we were going in partnership on this machine , he had all kinds of trouble in his shop and could not pay his half of the equipment. it she in his shop for a year I finely got it from him and paid his half off. I am having touble getting it to run from the flexi 10 program that I currently use. and gerber stated that until I switch to onyx they will ot help me. I hope I get it going before the 5 year time runs out. does anyone know how to get flexi to run this machine. the uv2 see the computer and recieves a ping when tested and it also runs a good nozzle test. but when I send a job I get an error message saying it cant send the print task to the printer.
particleman
New Member
This is really surprising. Gerber had a solid upper hand over a lot of other machines with their ink. Speculating, it seems the service record of these machines probably cost Gerber a lot of money. This will be pretty damaging to Gerbers image though in the long run...
HaroldDesign
New Member
The Ion has been a nice fit in the sign market. Low volume and distance viewing. Gerber simply didn't invest in the speed and quality necessary to keep it competitive. A solid piece of equipment, but TOO slow and offers a picoliter dot size competitive with crayons. I think it became too hard to sell the product it produces because it's simply easier to not have to explain viewing distance to potential customers. In short, Gerber chose not to expand it's versatility. Just my opinion...
seaserpent
New Member
Will run the Cat till it stops purring
We have the Cat and absolutely love it. We upgraded from the Ion with a gantry replacement keeping only the table. First replacement unit was a lemon and had to be replaced. Very difficult weeks for our business, but Gerber came through. Four weeks now with the Cat running flawlessly. It's a great printer that does what no other machine does - in sticks to the materials we need it to stick to at good resolution with acceptable speeds using cool lamps. Hope someone buys this tech from Gerber and keeps it going. We will use this machine until it dies and then sell it to the scrap dealer. It makes us money and will certainly pay for itself before 5 years. Will probably buy new machine in two years anyway. We always do. So, long story short - just a bump in the road.
We have the Cat and absolutely love it. We upgraded from the Ion with a gantry replacement keeping only the table. First replacement unit was a lemon and had to be replaced. Very difficult weeks for our business, but Gerber came through. Four weeks now with the Cat running flawlessly. It's a great printer that does what no other machine does - in sticks to the materials we need it to stick to at good resolution with acceptable speeds using cool lamps. Hope someone buys this tech from Gerber and keeps it going. We will use this machine until it dies and then sell it to the scrap dealer. It makes us money and will certainly pay for itself before 5 years. Will probably buy new machine in two years anyway. We always do. So, long story short - just a bump in the road.
liquidgrafix
New Member
I too just installed my Cat/UV and am very saddened and disappointed that this printer is being discontinued. I trust my Gerber rep that the support will be there, and wholeheartedly believe that other manufacturers will be able to supply inks/heads and other consumables. I also believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, but that's another story for another day.