Print shop expanding our signage capabilities - questions on equipment!

[PrintingGirl1013]

Hi all! I’m new here and I own a print shop in CT. We’ve been in business since 1970 and we have a loyal customer base. We currently have a 54” HP Latex 315, a Seal laminator, a trimmer and a Keencut board cutter. We are needing to upgrade our 315 and are looking at the Mimaki UCJV300-160 (print and cut) and I’m looking for opinions from others on this machine. We will use it for posters, adhesive vinyl to apply to board, decals, banners, and window graphics. I’m worried about a steep learning curve and time consuming set up/make ready.

 

[GC Decor]

Not sure your budget or other needs but I would 100% recommend Canons Colorado series if you need more capacity. We had ours installed in February and already looking to get a second. Really unmatched machine for the price, it flys through rolls of materials. The UV gel ink is incredible, strongest ink we have seen yet. I know several other members here with the same model as well.
Only set back we have seen is it comes only “CMYK” and no option for white but we have other printers with white so it’s not a problem.

 

[MelloImagingTechnologies]

I highly recommend you outsource to Sign Center in Milford to start.
Tell them Bruce referred you and you will get a discount.
Once you’re spending $5k a month outsourcing it’s time to bring in equipment.
Bruce

 

[Jayefkay531]

I highly recommend you outsource to Sign Center in Milford to start.
Tell them Bruce referred you and you will get a discount.
Once you’re spending $5k a month outsourcing it’s time to bring in equipment.
Bruce

SignCenter does good work but I've found them to be quite expensive compared to other wholesalers. I would 100% recommend them for their service and quality, but not price. However, if the OP already had an HP315, they're not fully new to the signage world. I don't think she'd need to outsource.

In my opinion, I was never a fan of print and cut machines for signage. Decals - all day long. But once the bulk of what you're doing required lamination for outdoor use, it always seemed counter-intuitive to me. Also - I wouldn't worry about any learning curve. From one roll fed machine to the next...everything will be similar enough that you won't be blindsided with a steep and long learning curve.

 

[MelloImagingTechnologies]

True.
If you're doing one or two, there's no need to outsource.
Many of my customers don't buy UV flatbed because they don't have enough volume so they buy 3m approved solvent printers from me and just print and mount with a 5 year vinyl and lam.
Printing without a 3m approved fade resistance can cause bad rep for sign producers however.
Bruce

 

[GC Decor]

The items she has listed "posters, adhesive vinyl to apply to board, decals, banners, and window graphics" are extremely cheap to make in house & are easy to produce for a established shop. If it was ACM/Coro or something specials than outsourcing might make sense. She's looking at a Mimaki UV printer so she would have plenty of capacity, ink will be inexpensive compared to other models. I think these are in the 18-20k range (US price) so it wouldn't be hard to make your investment back. Out Sourcing make sense in certain use cases - As Bruce stated UV flatbed are a prefect example or large run labels, ACM is another one that is nice to Sub out for complex shapes.

I would suggest avoiding the print and cut model and looking to add a standalone cutter. This will give you more capacity & simply the process - We love Summa roll cutters there T2 series is outstanding, we have three setup & need more but the wait time is huge right now, took months to get our last T2. Graphtec seems to have some good equipment as well & in stock. Let us know what you end up with & hopefully we are all helpful in your process.

 

[MelloImagingTechnologies]

The Colorado does look like a good machine if you are doing some volume.
How is the gel ink with lamination? Textured?

 

[MelloImagingTechnologies]

Stand alone cutter is a great idea as well. It's funny because I am setting up my demo Summa Opos Cam at my office to read barcodes, cut the job, cut sheet off, then read next barcode and keep repeating for the whole roll!
Automation in the current workflow!
Just need an auto weeder.
Bruce

 

[victor bogdanov]

Printing without a 3m approved fade resistance can cause bad rep for sign producers however.

Is there a major printer manufacturer that is not 3m approved lol

 

[Jayefkay531]

The items she has listed "posters, adhesive vinyl to apply to board, decals, banners, and window graphics" are extremely cheap to make in house & are easy to produce for a established shop. If it was ACM/Coro or something specials than outsourcing might make sense. She's looking at a Mimaki UV printer so she would have plenty of capacity, ink will be inexpensive compared to other models. I think these are in the 18-20k range (US price) so it wouldn't be hard to make your investment back. Out Sourcing make sense in certain use cases - As Bruce stated UV flatbed are a prefect example or large run labels, ACM is another one that is nice to Sub out for complex shapes.

I would suggest avoiding the print and cut model and looking to add a standalone cutter. This will give you more capacity & simply the process - We love Summa roll cutters there T2 series is outstanding, we have three setup & need more but the wait time is huge right now, took months to get our last T2. Graphtec seems to have some good equipment as well & in stock. Let us know what you end up with & hopefully we are all helpful in your process.

I also agree with the standalone cutter. We also have a T2 Summa. Got it right before wait times were insane (Nov 2020). The opas automation and perf cut are great for simple decals.

I didn't realize that Mimaki was UV ink. It would take much need for lamination out of it with uv cured, but having the standalone cutter provides more capabilities and improves productivity. Imagine needing to wait to print a run to mount to foamboard because you're cutting 1000 small decals...yikes. Better off running two machines and doubling your output capabilities.


ACTUALLY...now that I think about it also being in CT...I think you should go with a small 15" cricut machine and not increase your production outflow haha (kidding obviously).

 

[MelloImagingTechnologies]

3m certified-
Looks like the newer inks from Roland and the uv from Mimaki make the cut.
I don't see the Colorado on the list.
See here for the most recent 3M warranty approved printers-
chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/viewer.html?pdfurl=https%3A%2F%2Fmultimedia.3m.com%2Fmws%2Fmedia%2F2039947O%2F3m-mcs-warranty-printer-list.pdf&clen=115440&chunk=true&pdffilename=2021%20MCS%20Printer%20Listv2.pdf

 

[GC Decor]

The Colorado does look like a good machine if you are doing some volume.
How is the gel ink with lamination? Textured?

We haven't had any use cases for lamination yet, the ink is a 2 year ink most of our jobs are temporary wall panels - We don't do much with vehicle wraps or graphic's. The texture is awesome, it prints in gloss or matt. Colorado 1650 received 3m performance guarantee certification on March 12 2020. 3m most up to date - warranty certification sheet shows the Colorado 1650 as covered ( Below Durst & Above Epson on the list from 3m website) Linked PDF Page

 

[victor bogdanov]

3m certified-
Looks like the newer inks from Roland and the uv from Mimaki make the cut.
I don't see the Colorado on the list.
See here for the most recent 3M warranty approved printers-
chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/viewer.html?pdfurl=https%3A%2F%2Fmultimedia.3m.com%2Fmws%2Fmedia%2F2039947O%2F3m-mcs-warranty-printer-list.pdf&clen=115440&chunk=true&pdffilename=2021%20MCS%20Printer%20Listv2.pdf

COLORADO 1650 UVGEL INK RECEIVES 3M PERFORMANCE GUARANTEE CERTIFICATION - Canon Press Centre

www.canon-europe.com

Canon Production Printing is proud to announce that 3M has certified the Colorado 1650 and its UVgel 460 ink with its 3M Performance Guarantee.

Even mutoh is 3m certified

 

[P Wagner]

The 3M Performance Guarantee is a far less complete, comprehensive and robust standard versus the 3M Matched Component System (MCS) Warranty.

 

[karst41]

Hi all! I’m new here and I own a print shop in CT. We’ve been in business since 1970 and we have a loyal customer base. We currently have a 54” HP Latex 315, a Seal laminator, a trimmer and a Keencut board cutter. We are needing to upgrade our 315 and are looking at the Mimaki UCJV300-160 (print and cut) and I’m looking for opinions from others on this machine. We will use it for posters, adhesive vinyl to apply to board, decals, banners, and window graphics. I’m worried about a steep learning curve and time consuming set up/make ready.

Get an HP L365. they are cheap.
Print and cut machines are a horrid time bottle neck.

You have a Laminator with Heat assist then Get an hHP 365, and a Graphtec FC9000-140.
54' Media is the main stay as the 60" is just a face to face argument every day.
Availability is the kicker on 60"

When Finished printing, the roll comes off the printer onto the laminator, the second roll
of the day has started ripping, while the first roll is laminated in 15 minutes and then
to the trimmer table or to the Graphtec Plotter.

You are now printing art warp speed and the volume that a small shop can
kick out in one day becomes breath taking especially when you did this for 60
straight business days.. You just made bank!