Digital print

Three containers, eight engineers, one almighty printer!

Things have been fizzing at Fusion Print, Soar’s sister company in Hamilton. Earlier this year, Fusion took delivery of three containers full of state-of-the-art digital print technology – the Océ VarioPrint i300…unassembled. Then it was simply a matter of putting it together.

Shortly after the containers arrived, eight engineers from Holland, Australia and New Zealand arrived at Fusion to begin the assembly and deployment process. The crates had to be carefully unpacked and every component checked before installation could begin. From end-to-end, the process took five weeks. Graeme Foote, general manager at Fusion, says it was fascinating to watch.

“We created a time-lapse video of the install and it’s compulsive viewing. Watching this monster digital press come to life was extraordinary over five weeks, but it’s even more amazing when you watch the whole process in four minutes!”

The end result is a printer that’s 16 metres long and 2.6 metres tall – longer than the average city bus and nearly as high. Already it’s pulling its weight at Fusion. The press was available for duty from March 22^nd and has completed several multi-page print jobs.

“Fred Soar and I first saw the i300 on a business trip to Holland last year. We were impressed by its ability to produce exceptionally high-quality digital print outputs – sheets go in one end, and a fully-finished brochure or book pops out the other end.

“At the time we agreed that if Océ could ensure our machine would produce that quality, we’d be happy. As it turns out, the quality we’re getting is even better than what we saw in Holland – our i300 is over-delivering!”

So what’s so special about this multi-million-dollar machine? Quite a lot! The Océ VarioPrint i300 is a next-generation sheet-fed digital press that revolutionises the printing of multi-page outputs.

You can literally press one button and have a fully-formed book come out the other end of the press.
Every output can be different, because the press accepts variable data. For example, you can print a personalised brochure or catalogue for a high-value customer, changing out text and images wherever you like.
For small runs (1 to 2000) it’s a cost-effective way to get a high quality result.
The i300 can fold and stitch (staple) a book in a way that creates a square spine up to 10mm wide – up to 180 pages plus a cover. Your get a perfect bound book, but without the high price that usually comes with perfect binding.

Talk to Graeme Foote about printing with the Océ VarioPrint i300 – call 027 2959224 or email graeme@fusionprint.co.nz

Watch the time lapse video of installation.

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More about Techweek

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