Horizon leads the way with the first Mimaki JV300 in Ireland.
R-L Horizon’s digital manager, Ken Kavanagh shakes hands with general manager for Hybrid Ireland, Dave Rainsford Horizon Digital Print has become the first company in Ireland to install the recently launched Mimaki JV300 solvent digital inkjet printer. The investment was made to improve productivity, particularly for outdoor advertising.
To think of a ‘Horizon’ gives a sense of expanse and possibility and it is a fitting name for the award-winning Dublin-based printing company. Originally opened in the city centre in 1986 as a pre-press operation, the company has witnessed many changes to the industry over the last 30 years and embraced the opportunities each leap in technology has given them.
With two purpose-built sites on the Phoenix Industrial Estate in Dublin, over 60 employees and a 24-hour shift rota in operation to manage its substantial workload, Horizon offers a holistic service from design to print through to installation. Over the years it has built up a significant armoury of production capability and a tour around the premises shows the sheer size and scope of Horizon’s printing setup. Its vast capacity is made possible by an array of grand-format digital production presses which instantly evokes a sense of ‘anything is possible’. According to the company’s website, the formula for its success is excellent quality, short lead times and reasonable prices; and there is certainly the capability there to fulfil its customer promise.
The new kid on the block, not just for Horizon but for the Republic of Ireland, is the Mimaki JV300-160 which at first glance looks dwarfed by the other hardware which surrounds it on site. However, in true David and Goliath form, this 1.6m solvent printer is not only holding its own, but proving itself on the floor, as digital manager, Ken Kavanagh explained. “What we love about the JV300 is that it gets on with the job, quietly and unattended, freeing up manpower to be used with the bigger machines. Even better is that we are finding the speed and quality it brings is allowing us to divert an increasing number of jobs away from larger machines and over to the JV300, so it has been running continuously since it was installed. There has been a definite increase in productivity since it came on board and its low maintenance too.”
Supplied by authorised Mimaki reseller, Reprocentre Group, the Mimaki JV300 Series is compatible with both solvent and dye-sublimation ink sets with a top speed of over 105m2/h, and is available in both 1.3m and 1.6m widths. It has a staggered dual print-head system which, coupled with variable ink dots and large ink drops means excellent quality is maintained at high speed, as Kavanagh describes; “We’ve been running the JV300 in 4-colour mode because it runs at tremendous speed this way. What is really impressive is that we are getting the same colour gamut on the JV300 that, on our previous eco-solvent printer, we’d previously only achieved in 6-colour mode. It’s enabling a very noticeable increase in productivity but without having to compromise on print quality which is perfect for the volume of outdoor advertising we produce.”
Hybrid Ireland’s General manager Dave Rainsford, Mimaki's exclusive Irish distributor added, "The new JV300 is a fantastic progression and addition to the Mimaki range and we are delighted that a customer as prestigious as Horizon is as impressed as we are with it. Horizon has been an important customer for the Reprocentre for a number of years now and we're very happy to be a part of that"
For further information about Horizon and its services visit their website www.horizondigitalprint.com or telephone 00353 (0) 1 868 1257. For details of Reprocentre Group’s products and services see their website www.reprocentre.ie or telephone 00353 (0) 1 409 3100. For all of Mimaki’s latest products and consumables visit Irish and UK distributor, Hybrid Services Ltd’s website www.hybridservices.ie or telephone 0044 (0) 1270 501900.
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