Looking for some recommendations on which direction we should go for our next purchase. We are replacing 2x aging hybrid UV printers and are looking to increase throughput.
Daily volume/jobs:
- 90% 4x8 4mm boards - mainly corrugated, foam, pvc
- 30-40 4x8 impressions/day with the occasional 50-100+ 4x8 impression orders that we end up spreading over several shifts.
Looking for a minimum speed of 20 boards per hour with decent quality. Think "indoor signage plus" with 4 color CMYK. Max budget is $250k but prefer to keep it around $150k. By no means do we need gallery quality prints. Our wide format production schedule is 90% ready within 24 hours and even offset orders are largely within 24-48 hours. Speed and ability to price competitively takes priority by a long shot. In terms of quality, we are running indoor signage plus at 600x600 with no quality complaints from customers.
While we can certainly keep up with normal volumes on our current equipment we find ourselves turning away larger jobs. Usually due to the inability to match requested in-hands dates.
The following options are being considered:
- Digitech ST/LT -- machine seems to be very fast with good/sellable quality but price point is high. no California customers yet from what I know. Unsure how this will play out in terms of service.
- Mimaki jfx600 or 2x jfx500 -- we have several mimaki machines and have had good experiences with them. there's also local techs we can rely on once warranty expires. 3rd party ink's are usually readily available as well. Price point on the 600 is high.
- 2x Stratojet 2512 or 3216 -- machine is much slower...real world estimates at 14 boards an hour. Huge plus is that the main headquarters is 20 minutes from us and general consensus is that service is very quick and responsive.
- Vanguard ??? -- Have not looked into this manufacturer yet but have heard the name mentioned with generally favorable comments.
Daily volume/jobs:
- 90% 4x8 4mm boards - mainly corrugated, foam, pvc
- 30-40 4x8 impressions/day with the occasional 50-100+ 4x8 impression orders that we end up spreading over several shifts.
Looking for a minimum speed of 20 boards per hour with decent quality. Think "indoor signage plus" with 4 color CMYK. Max budget is $250k but prefer to keep it around $150k. By no means do we need gallery quality prints. Our wide format production schedule is 90% ready within 24 hours and even offset orders are largely within 24-48 hours. Speed and ability to price competitively takes priority by a long shot. In terms of quality, we are running indoor signage plus at 600x600 with no quality complaints from customers.
While we can certainly keep up with normal volumes on our current equipment we find ourselves turning away larger jobs. Usually due to the inability to match requested in-hands dates.
The following options are being considered:
- Digitech ST/LT -- machine seems to be very fast with good/sellable quality but price point is high. no California customers yet from what I know. Unsure how this will play out in terms of service.
- Mimaki jfx600 or 2x jfx500 -- we have several mimaki machines and have had good experiences with them. there's also local techs we can rely on once warranty expires. 3rd party ink's are usually readily available as well. Price point on the 600 is high.
- 2x Stratojet 2512 or 3216 -- machine is much slower...real world estimates at 14 boards an hour. Huge plus is that the main headquarters is 20 minutes from us and general consensus is that service is very quick and responsive.
- Vanguard ??? -- Have not looked into this manufacturer yet but have heard the name mentioned with generally favorable comments.
