When The Sign Shop's Cadet Plus (OEM of Roland VersaCAMM SP-540) wide format printer developed a fault and stopped printing yellow ink, the company turned to Tech8 to provide technical support and supply spare parts.  The printer was swiftly returned to full operational use and Andy Lang, Owner of The Sign Shop, says he would recommend Tech8 to everyone with a printer.
 
The Sign Shop, based in Torquay, Devon, has been supplying high quality signs to the public and the sign trade for nearly 10 years.  It offers a wide variety of signage products including braille/tactile signs, engraved signs, commercial signs, brass plaques and engraved fascia panels.  The organisation prides itself on its attention to details – regardless of the size of the order placed.
 
The bulk of its signage output – including general signage, large printed graphics, banners and back-lit box graphics - is printed on a Cadet Plus wide format digital printer.  Early in 2011, the Cadet printer developed a fault and stopped printing yellow ink.  The problem could be fixed temporarily by pulling the ink through and running head cleaning cycles, but would quickly return.  The Sign Shop had no idea what was wrong with the printer and no idea how to permanently fix the problem.
 
At this point, Andy Lang, Owner of The Sign Shop googled for 'Cadet Plus spares and support', and came across Tech8.  He called them and was encouraged by the professional, friendly and knowledgeable approach they demonstrated over the telephone.
 
Tech8, based in Maidenhead, offers technical support, extended warranties and spare parts for most wide format printers.  Technical support is supplied via email, over the telephone or through a site visit by one of Tech8's fully qualified engineers, if required.
 
He comments, "The guys at Tech8 were instantly helpful and guided me though the various possibilities that could have been causing the printer to malfunction.  They were very keen to ensure that obvious things had been ruled out first to eliminate any wasted expense on spare parts that I did not need."
 
He continues, "Following consultation over the phone, Tech8 recommended we ordered new dampers, capping stations and an upgraded pump as these were due for replacement anyway.  They then diagnosed the problem - the printhead manifold had either become blocked or was cracked and was therefore allowing air into the printhead.  That proved to be exactly what had happened and once we replaced the relevant part, the printer was returned to full functionality."
 
According to Andy, Tech8 is the most helpful company he has dealt with in a long time.  "Every single member of the team I spoke to was really helpful and when they said they would get back to me, they did.  They completely understood the seriousness of a sign business in a situation where its primary printer was not working.  They made every effort to get us up and running as soon as possible –nothing was too much trouble."
 
He adds, "I would definitely recommend Tech8 to any business relying upon a wide format printer.  They know their stuff, they are great to deal with and really care about their customers.   Tech 8 is one of a growing number of businesses that are almost old-fashioned in the quality of their customer care, whilst being at the cutting edge of professionalism, technical knowledge and efficiency."
 
As for the future, Andy Lang said that The Sign Shop plans to continue developing the business based on its customer-focused approach to sign making.  He concludes, "The Sign Shop is a business that values its credibility over and above the bottom line and we are delighted to have found a like-minded business to partner with."