Agfa Graphics announced today that UNIT Safety Signs in Japan has decided to expand the production capacity with the :Dotrix Modular Single Pass UV inkjet printer.

UNIT Safety Signs today is one of the biggest traditional screen printers in Japan specialized in the design and manufacturing of safety signs and products with over 13.000 different signs for construction -, industrial -, and equipment safety in assortment.

"I had been in safety sign business more than 40 years", says Mr Hiroshi Kuroda, president of UNIT Safety Signs, "all with conventional silk screening technology. In order to shorten the turnaround time and produce jobs more efficiently, I have been looking for new printing technology to secure our future growth. With the :Dotrix Modular we have seen how to materialize these new ideas as it combines best in class techologies like digital inkjet, UV inks and reliable high production speed."

Agfa Graphics' Dotrix Modular is an industrial single pass medium web inkjet press. The high capacity 7 ton unit is a perfect fit for UNIT Safety Signs' high volume applications. The :Dotrix prints 907 sqm/hr and uses UV curable inks. The unique ability to print on substrates from 450gsm folding cartons to ultra thin 25µ PE foils, ideally suits USS for their wide range of products. At UNIT Safety Signs the :Dotrix will be installed with an online sheet cutter with automated variable cut-to-length option to reduce setup times between jobs.

According to Mr.Yoshimitsu Tojo, General Manager for Sales Division, Agfa Graphics Japan, this partnership with UNIT Safety Signs will open a new era for the on-demand UV inkjet printing market in Japan. "I am very pleased that we have the opportunity to install :Dotrix Modular at UNIT Safety Signs," he says. "Japan is one of the most advanced countries in the digital on-demand press market. Dotrix Modular will play a similar role, especially in silk screen and flexible gravure package printing market. At UNIT Safety Signs they were eager to introduce new technologies, first as a complement to current business. Now they already plan to reduce the number of analogue screen printing plates and to convert some of the jobs to digital."