Two years after installing its first VUTEk printer, Primary Color, a leading Los Angeles-based prepress and sheetfed printing company, reports significant success with its superwide business, set to be the company's most profitable market in 2006. Underpinned by the quality and productivity of its PressVu UV 200/600, UV-curing, rigid and flexible printer, and its UltraVu 5330, five-meter, solvent VUTEk printer, Primary Color's superwide business has gone from strength to strength, supplying a wide range of indoor and outdoor graphics. John Shaffer, Primary Color, Large Format Director, comments, "Superwide printing is a great fit for our commercial business and company ethos of 'all under one roof'. Customers now get complete peace of mind for all their printed needs. By using us, they benefit from the brand and corporate identity consistency provided by exact color matching and high quality print." "Due to this combination of service and print excellence, in 2006 we fully expect our superwide business to be the most profitable product area for Primary Color," says John. As a traditional commercial printer producing a variety of items including publications, advertising materials and high quality brochures, Primary Color is a very progressive company. However, with the decline in prepress sales, it looked for new sources of revenue, identifying the superwide market as synergistic with its existing lithographic business. John continues, "Our traditional commercial business is changing. Where once we were responsible for production of all artwork through to final delivery, the evolution of digital technology now enables agencies to supply print-ready PDFs directly. This has significantly reduced our bread-and-butter commercial work. "To compensate for this, in 2003, we purchased a VUTEk UltraVu 5330 to extend our services to clients and provide large format graphics to the automotive and entertainment industries." Primary Color used its VUTEk printer's five-meter, 330 dpi capabilities to print applications including billboards and building wraps for existing customers. Quite quickly, its reputation for high quality superwide printing was established, and it looked for an additional machine to extend its business. In 2004, Primary Color installed a VUTEk PressVu UV 200/600, rigid and flexible printer. "The PressVu UV 200/600 has enabled us to significantly reduce labor costs. By printing direct to the final substrate, we have been able to eliminate the lamination process, streamlining production and saving time and money," comments John. This capability was recently demonstrated by a job undertaken for the 2005 Magic Clothing Show, held at the Las Vegas Convention Center. By using its VUTEk PressVu UV 200/600, Primary Color was able to print straight to pre-cut magnetic sheets that were then installed onto the building's metal facade. John continues, "With our VUTEk flatbed printer, we have been able to eliminate processes, enabling us to double our profit on these jobs. The machine's use of UV inks has resulted in print that is much more durable, and improved our overall product and service to customers." However, according to Primary Color, the biggest challenge the company faces is in educating its customers to the capabilities of the machine and the variety of substrates available to them. "The printer is so flexible and revolutionary, that for the creative market, customers often don't realize its full potential. But, once they see the output from the printer, they are sold, and their imaginations are fired," says John. Established in 1985, Primary Color today employs over 250 people at its California facilities in Los Angeles and Orange County. Operating 24-hour shifts, seven days a week, Primary Color is currently running to capacity with its two VUTEk printers. John concludes, "For us, our entry in to the superwide market has been a huge success, and as such, we will be shortly looking to expand our operation."