McRae was the first North American business to buy a Reggiani printer, and now is the first in North America to install an EFI Reggiani printer since EFI’s acquisition of Reggiani Macchine. The new printer increases the company’s maximum digital textile output to 13,000 square feet per (1,200 square meters) per hour.
 
In Murray’s experience, Reggiani printers’ capabilities essentially sell themselves to print buyers. “When people come to visit us and see what the machine is and what we have done with it, well, it pretty well seals the deal,” said Bob Murray, co-owner and CEO, McRae Imaging. “It gives us the opportunity to show people what we can produce; having this machine has done wonderful things for us. And we’re looking forward to working now with EFI.”
 
Today’s McRae Imaging got its start in 1997, when Murray and Richard Kisiel purchased what was, at the time, one of the best shops in North America for reproducing photographic images and prints. McRae Imaging became one of the first shops in North America to start printing on fabric.
 
After getting established in the fabric printing market, Murray and Kisiel purchased their first Reggiani ReNOIR printer, a 3.4-meter machine capable of printing on a wide range of substrates. Before installing that printer, McRae Imaging’s equipment could process about 3,000 square feet (279 square meters) per hour. Now, the company can do upward of 6,500 square feet (603 square meters) per hour. “The Reggiani printer allowed us to take on jobs we couldn’t produce fast enough before,” Murray explained.
 
The newly purchased EFI Reggiani printer increases McRae Imaging’s output to up to 13,000 square feet (1,200 square meters) per hour.
 
An eco-friendly alternative to traditional printed signage
 
In addition to gaining productivity and quality, McRae Imaging has reaped other benefits from Reggiani technology. The company’s Reggiani printer is a very eco-friendly machine, running water-based inks with little to no odor and low power consumption. McRae Imaging’s customers also see savings on the shipping, since their pieces are much lighter-weight than other materials used in the signage and graphics industry. Plus, fabric-printed signs fold up to create smaller packages, for even lower shipping costs.
 
EFI Reggiani printers also offer increased sustainability because they produce high-quality printed textiles while using less ink. The printers’ ink recovery system is especially beneficial in the amount of savings it can create for customers.
 
“There are just so many advantages to fabric printing,” Murray noted. “There was a point in 2008 where people were started to talk about eco-friendly, but then the downturn happened. Now I’m seeing it start to come back as people recognize that we have to watch the environment. Our machines are eco-friendly, and that’s another advantage to the Reggiani printers.”
 
EFI Reggiani products are designed and manufactured to the highest standards and to simplify textile production across a wide range of industries. EFI’s complete printer portfolio, which also features the industry’s top LED and UV inkjet narrow-, wide- and superwide-format technologies, gives customers profitable opportunities in “The Imaging of Things,” delivering greater product customization and appeal in everything from signage and packaging to décor, apparel and industrial manufacturing. To see many of the extensive, imaginative applications possible with EFI print technology, visit www.ImagingofThings.com or www.efi.com.