Shane McNally, Mimaki print operator for enclosure boxes at Spelsberg UK.

UK subsidiary of 118-year-old German company adds bespoke digital printing capabilities to its range of in-house services

CMYUK, Shrewsbury: Industrial enclosure manufacturer Spelsberg UK has installed a Mimaki UJF-6042MkII e digital printer from CMYUK. The new UV LED A2-sized printer will be used to print logos, images, and text in a variety of colours to virtually all types of enclosure materials.

It was purchased on the recommendation of the company’s HQ in Germany, which bought two of the same Mimaki printers two years ago to do the same.

“The UK division of Spelsberg has been established for 25 years. We invested in the Mimaki printer in-house to offer our customers the option to customise their enclosures. The interest has been off the scale with OEMS requesting company names, logos, and contact information to be added. In addition to branding, the printing capability is also useful to add safety and instructional information,” says Chris Lloyd, MD, Spelsberg.

Spelsberg – a market leader for 118 years
Spelsberg is a leading manufacturer in the electrical industry. Founded in Germany in 1904, this family-owned company designs and produces products for the electrical trade and industrial sector. It employs approximately 450 staff and has ten subsidiaries throughout the world, with the UK division established for 25 years and situated in Telford, Shropshire. The 5,000 or so products that the company currently offers includes junction boxes, small distributors, terminal blocks, and meter housings plus empty enclosures.
These products are manufactured in Germany from materials and are delivered to the UK in twice weekly shipments.

Made in Germany, customised in the UK
Spelsberg UK has historically used its in-house CNC machine for routing, milling, and drilling to provide a level of customisation to its customers. It used the Mimaki printers in Germany to deliver a level of digital printed customisation for the UK market, but
delivery times weren’t quick enough to make it a viable service.

“As a UK subsidiary it simply doesn’t work if customers need to wait 4 weeks or longer for a printed sample. Investing in this technology enhances delivery speeds and reduces costs. It also increases customer choice and control over print designs with the ability to deal directly with the enclosure manufacturer.

“Carrying a large stock of enclosures at our Telford site, we’ll be able to provide printed boxes within days, alongside our additional services, such as CNC machining,” says Chris.

Mimaki UJF-6042MkII e
The Mimaki UJF-6042MkII e offers cutting edge image quality and prints direct to substrates up to 153mm thick. With a print area of 610mm x 420mm, it can handle a wide variety of media such as leather, wood, acrylic, metal, and glass all in addition to the Spelsberg housings that are made from plastics such as polycarbonate, ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene), polystyrene, and aluminium. The Mimaki also features new MFD2 processing for exceptional image quality as well as an improved gap check sensor.

The printer offers a choice of matt, gloss, embossed finishes, numbering, and variable data insertion printing within the same print run. The UV inks also match Spelsberg’s own UV resistant enclosure material.
“It's a clever piece of kit. The fact that it can print twenty different lids depending on the sizes with 20 different logos in a single pass is just fantastic,” says Chris.

CMYUK know-how
As the company was in the market for a Mimaki printer, it approached CMYUK, the premium reseller of Mimaki technology in the UK. Chris visited CMYUK’s demonstration and training facility up the road in Shrewsbury, taking along sample products to really evaluate the printer first hand.
Says Chris, “My experience with CMYUK has been fantastic. Right from the initial enquiry talking to Sue Hayward [CMYUK’s Sales Director – Equipment] and visiting the showroom with test samples, nothing was too much trouble. Our staff went to CMYUK for training, which was brilliant, and of course we have ongoing support as and when required. I cannot fault the process in any way.”