Client: Mainteam Bild·Text·Kommunikation GmbH
| Founding year: | 1949 |
| Location: | Aschaffenburg |
| Industry: | pre-press skills |
| Application report: | Production of sophisticated plate prints with special colours and effects |
Overview
Mainteam Bild-Text-Kommunikation GmbH focuses on special prints on special materials for advertising purposes. Thanks to its decades of experience as a prepress service provider, Mainteam can develop and produce the end products together with customers in an integrated workflow. With the Océ Arizona 60 GT UV flatbed printer and the Océ ProCut Zünd G3 digital cutting system from Canon, Mainteam has advanced to the next dimension of production.
Challenge
Mainteam Bild-Text-Kommunikation GmbH, with over 25 employees, has developed from its predecessor company, which was founded in 1949 as a prepress company for newspapers. Together with customers from all industries, new, sophisticated advertising media are constantly being designed. "Printing on Alu-Dibond is just as much a part of this as printing on magnetic foils and other complex display materials that are used, for example, at trade fairs to advertise high-quality products," describes Managing Director Gerhard Jung. This also includes the development and sampling of new packaging. Here, mainly sheets and plates are printed. The growing demand for special products in plate printing prompted those responsible at Mainteam to introduce a flatbed printing system to make production much more rational. "Up to now we needed about a week, often more, for an average order on alu-dibond or magnetic foil. We always had to put up with unpredictable situations," Jung remembers. Because at that time, the print motifs were always printed on a carrier material in roll form, often vinyl foil, then laminated onto the plates - numerous work steps that had to be done by hand. In the process, it was always necessary to take into account the different characteristics of the carrier and the film in order to keep production waste as low as possible and to achieve the best results.
"With Canon's Océ Arizona 460 GT, we have chosen the right solution in a growing market. A few months after the investment, we are using it to produce the majority of our plate prints for exclusive end products on all conceivable substrates. In perfect combination with the digital Océ ProCut Zünd G3 cutting system, this overall solution has accelerated our production speed significantly and ensures the highest quality that we strive for."
Managing director Gerhard Jung
Solution
After intensive market research and numerous test prints, Mainteam Bild-Text-Kommunikation GmbH opted for the newly released Océ Arizona 460 GT from Canon. "As our clientele attaches great importance to visual effects, reproduction was a top priority for us. With the Océ Arizona 460 GT we achieved the best results and were also supported perfectly by the consultants right from the start," says Gerhard Jung. An essential part of the solution is also the digital Océ ProCut Zünd G3 cutting system , which cuts, creases and mills the printed plates. The Océ Arizona 460 GT prints four basic colours, white and an effect varnish thanks to its six ink channels, which can be expanded to eight. All special materials such as aluminium dibond, plastic panels, magnetic foil, cardboard and backlit foils can be printed directly and then processed individually and easily on the digital cutting system. "With this complete solution, we can provide our customers with samples that look just like the products manufactured in the final production. In addition, with the Océ Arizona 460 GT we can also directly produce demanding short runs that are not economically feasible with classic screen printing," says Jung. Mainteam calibrated the system itself after installation and synchronised the colour settings with the other digital printing systems in use in the company. The Canon Océ Arizona 460 GT, like all the other printing systems, is controlled via GMG Production Suite. Any digital print job can be handled with Canon's new solution.
Benefits
"The results with the Océ Arizona 460 GT from Canon are convincing through their colours, the application is homogeneous and the colour depth is convincing," Gerhard Jung judges. In addition to the high quality, the system also offers ease of use: after just one day, the responsible employees were already familiar with the possibilities of the new flatbed printing system. "Our customers are also very pleased with the new design options we can provide them with," adds the managing director. The realisation of new patterns for cardboard boxes is thus accelerated, as is the production of short runs, for which lamination and laminating are now no longer necessary: What used to take a week or more is now completed in one to two working days. The digital Océ ProCut Zünd G3 cutting system plays a decisive role in speeding up the process. Thanks to the simplified and precise print production, Mainteam GmbH can also pass on a cost advantage to the customers due to the time savings and calculate better, because many imponderables that existed due to the subsequent cutting and laminating by hand have been eliminated with the new solution. "Shortly after the introduction in spring 2013, this solution from Canon is already carrying over 70 per cent of the production in this area and we are already expecting a further increase in the segment of special prints," says Gerhard Jung.
