LFP - Large-Format-Printing

The HP Scitex FB7600 Industrial Press delivers a complete digital solution to VistaCraft

Thursday 02. August 2012 - VistaCraft—a full-service point-of-purchase (POP) printing company based in Columbus, Georgia—had become very good at printing a range of signage on its analog presses. There was just one problem, says Mark Watson, vice president and general manager of VistaCraft. His customers were starting to demand shorter-run, strategically produced work—jobs that were too time-consuming and costly using an analog press. "We found that we could not grow our business with our analog equipment."

The company first bought a non-HP digital press, but was still missing opportunities to expand its business and was not getting the service or value needed for maximum return on its investment. Then, in January 2012, VistaCraft purchased the HP Scitex FB7600 Industrial Press—the first in North America.
“We looked at several machines,” Watson says. “The HP Scitex FB7600 Industrial Press was hard to beat. I have a lot of friends in the litho industry, and they told me, ‘Scitex is cutting edge. You can’t get any better.'”
Increased productivity pays off
VistaCraft now prints 90% of its POP work on its HP Scitex FB7600. One big reason is time savings. With the HP Scitex FB7600, there’s no need to pretreat substrates, and, because of the 3?4-automated media handling system, it’s easy for VistaCraft to load media and begin printing. Says Watson: “All we have to do is put our material up on a large table and we’re ready to roll.”
Switching jobs is just as easy. According to Watson, it takes only minutes to begin a job on his HP Scitex FB7600 Industrial Press, compared to hours on his analog presses. He estimates the HP Scitex press has improved his company’s turnaround time by 30%.
Recently, VistaCraft printed signage for gasoline pumps. To produce the 7,000 pump toppers, Watson estimates that he would need to run his analog press for 22 hours. With the combined print speed and width of his HP Scitex FB7600, the job took six hours.
The speed and efficiency of VistaCraft’s HP Scitex FB7600 also help reduce costs. With its analog presses, VistaCraft was experiencing overages as high as 15%. Now, overages are virtually nonexistent. VistaCraft has also found HP printheads to be more cost-effective than the printheads for its old digital press. Plus, after purchasing a Zünd cutting table, the company is bringing work in-house that it previously had to outsource.
All of these productivity gains add up to savings that are making VistaCraft more competitive and more profitable.
Expanding into new markets
VistaCraft is capturing new business with applications that had previously been too difficult or costly to produce, thanks to the flexibility and print quality of the HP Scitex FB7600 Industrial Press.
VistaCraft’s HP Scitex press provides a wider color gamut and can match Pantone colors more accurately than the company’s old digital press. With six HP UV-curable inks, the HP Scitex FB7600 delivers excellent dot gain and meets ISO quality standards.1
Watson also notes that HP FB225 Scitex Inks provide outstanding adhesion and allow him to print on corrugated materials, card stock, screen-print-grade polystyrene, and even static-cling substrates, with great results at a low overall cost. As a result, VistaCraft is now competing for bids that it previously had little chance of winning. “With this purchase, we’re right there with the competition—or ahead.”
VistaCraft is also gaining new business in packaging. By producing short-run cartons more quickly than offset and without having to create new cutting dies, VistaCraft can deliver strategic packaging days earlier—and at a fraction of the cost of a company that only prints using analog systems.
Part of the HP team
In addition to the benefits of the HP Scitex printing system, VistaCraft chose the HP Scitex FB7600 Industrial Press because of the service HP offers to help print service providers understand how to use their presses and derive maximum value from their purchases.
“With our old digital press, it felt like they sold us a machine and that’s it. We didn’t really have anybody out there to rely on,” Watson recalls. “With HP, when we pick up the phone, we can get our issue resolved immediately.” VistaCraft relies on HP Scitex Print Care to troubleshoot technical issues before they cause downtime. And with the HP Uptime Parts Kit, VistaCraft has peace of mind, knowing that it can quickly replace broken parts and get its press back up and running at full speed.
Watson also appreciates that HP makes its own inks and printheads. When he wants to know more about his press, he trusts that he can go right to the source—not a third-party vendor.
The quality, reliability, and level of service HP offers has Watson thinking about adding additional HP presses and printers to further grow the business.
“This is what we were looking for,” Watson says. “Someone to grow with. HP does a good job of making you feel like part of a team.”