Nimlok, a world leader in display and exhibition solutions, has printed a range of exhibition graphics for Britax International to help raise awareness of the company’s leading child-safety range. The graphics were among the first jobs produced on the VUTEk PressVu UV 200/600 digital flatbed printer, purchased by Nimlok to increase productivity in its production department and broaden its service offering. Paul Person, Director of Graphics, Nimlok, comments, “We worked in partnership with Britax to find a way of printing its billowing flag-shaped company logo, a key element of Britax’s corporate branding in the USA. The original plan was to pre-cut the panels, but we decided that this could cause problems. “We solved this by using the PressVu UV’s superior job set-up and registration capabilities to image directly and precisely onto sheets of 6mm Sintra; pre-scored to the required shape.” Producing 25 1.22m x 2.44m panels in one day, Nimlok was able to fully exploit the production flexibility of its new PressVu UV 200/600. By snapping off the waste sections outside of the printed area, the entire production process was made fast and simple, enabling Britax to enjoy short turnaround times and a much lower cost for the job. Paul continues, “Without the ability to print on rigid substrates, this job would have been very complicated, time consuming and expensive. Printing direct removes the mounting, laminating and cutting bottlenecks of our production process, with major benefits for our customers. “We print over 300m² day on the PressVu UV, installed in January 2005 at our Illinois, USA-based premises. It’s solid, reliable and always gives us consistently high quality print. We are very pleased.” For Nimlok’s first steps into digital flatbed technology, the PressVu UV 200/600 is an excellent machine that perfectly fits the company’s needs. “It is so quick and easy to use that we can respond immediately to late changes and print on the fly without any problems,” confirms Paul. “We have also taken advantage of VUTEk’s compatibility program for matching inks to substrates, leading to the development of a rollable poly-carbonate/vinyl, which we now use for pop-up graphics.” Paul states that there were a number of other factors that led to the choice of VUTEk as its superwide printing partner. These included short product delivery and installation times, VUTEk’s comprehensive customer support program, and the high value provided by its products. Founded in 1970, Nimlok has offices in the USA, UK, Canada and The Netherlands, and supplies a global network of service partners and authorized distributors. Currently employing a total of 450 people, it produces high quality graphics for a range of blue-chip companies, with high profile clients including BMW, Microsoft, NASA, Sony and Disney. Paul concludes, “We have a four-year growth plan designed to expand graphic sales by more than 300%. Digital technology is key to this growth, and choosing to buy our first digital large format printer from VUTEk was an easy decision. Our year-long investigation concluded that no other manufacturer could provide the same excellence in both build and output quality.”