Stallion harnesses market opportunities with Fujifilm flair
The Stallion Digital Solutions team of Sashen Barath (production supervisor), Jeff Cutler (owner) and Jesse Jeffrey (factory manager) are very satisfied with the consistent-quality digital print and cutting delivery that the Acuity LED 1600II and Summa S Class 2 vinyl and contour cutter, (purchased from Fujifilm), deliver for photorealistic mock-ups and short run jobs on any material.
WHEN Jeff Cutler of Stallion Printing & Packaging decided to bolster his platemaking and repro offering to include consistent-quality print for short runs on any material and realistic mock-ups that accurately reflect the finished product, he took a very analytical approach.
Jeff wasn’t convinced by the repeatable quality capabilities of some of the popular wide-format inkjet printers in the market. So he spent 18 months scrutinising settings, speeds and solutions before finally ticking the box next to the Fujifilm Acuity LED 1600II.
‘I wanted a digital printer offering excellent print quality on any substrate,’ he explains. Digital printing technology is quickly becoming the most popular option for customers looking to launch new products into the marketplace, so I had to make sure I purchased the right machine,’ he notes. ‘There were any number available but often one had to buy the supplier’s materials, which could have been expensive and may not have been exactly what my customers wanted. I also didn’t want a system that produced stunning mock-ups that couldn’t be replicated on a production run,’ he comments. ‘As an eagle-eyed print analyser, I wanted to be able to examine the result closely without picking up any variations, smudges or imperfections.’
A helpful customer – one of the many Jeff counts as friends after 20 years in business – spotted the Fujifilm Acuity LED 1600II at Africa Print and Fespa Africa 2019 in Midrand, telling him this was the machine he’d been looking for. ‘We saw the unit at the show and then Fujifilm ran several tests for us at a Johannesburg- based customer’s facility. The results confirmed that it was indeed the machine we needed.’
The Acuity LED 1600II became the new stalwart in the Stallion stable in New Germany, KwaZulu-Natal just before year-end. It had it all – good looks, sleek build and winning performance. And specs to match – superior ink coverage with strong colours, simultaneous multilayer printing with Uvijet LL eight-colour ink pumped through Dimatix Q-class industrial printheads at speeds of up to 33m2/h for roll and rigid material applications including display graphics, signage, decals, environmental graphics and package prototypes.
Producing little heat, LEDs don’t deform heat-sensitive media. Additionally, VersaDrop multi-pulse jetting delivers smooth changes in tone and vignettes vital for today’s detailed packaging graphics.
LDPE, BOPP, high-density plastics and labels were all early grist to the Acuity mill.
Diversified performance
This investment, along with a Summa S Class 2 vinyl and contour cutter from Fujifilm, has enabled Jeff to introduce a new division to the Stallion Group called Stallion Digital Solutions.
‘Feedback on the Acuity LED 1600II’s quality has been phenomenal,’ Jeff confirms. ‘Everyone who sees the machine and what it produces is impressed. And our ability to perfect short runs has also led to an increase in business. We can do as few as a handful of labels, so our label printer customers who have brand owners wanting impossibly short runs refer them to us instead.’
Technical and service backup is a WhatsApp or phone call away. Never having dealt with Fujifilm before, this came as a breath of fresh air for Jeff, who believes that personal relationships matter. ‘The technicians came in, trained our operators and everything went without a hitch.’
A complementary investment is the Summa S Class 2 for cutting labels to the required shape for ease of application.
Although the machine isn’t as visually or operationally exciting as the Acuity LED 1600II, it does as promised and when cutting small, intricate-design labels it goes, Jeff chuckles, like ‘a bat out of hell’. ‘It’s really fascinating to watch,’ he adds.
The Summa cutter’s features include touch-control panel, OPOS X contour cutting alignment for accuracy, automatic cut-off knife and eight built-in user configurations to improve job changeover efficiency.
Word of mouth advertising has been very positive among Stallion’s customer base, and when it picks up even more pace, Jeff’s acuity may have to stretch to a further visit to Fujifilm to pick up another unit. Or two.
