In October 2022, The Creative Place added to its impressive portfolio of large format printing equipment with the installation of a brand new swissQprint Nyala 4 Flatbed UV printer, with additional roll-to-roll functionality
When I visited swissQprint in November, I was hugely impressed with the quality of the machines and was keen to talk to a customer to find out more about how the machines performed in the field. I remembered visiting The Creative Place many years ago and knew they were a company with a great pedigree, so when I heard they had recently installed one of the new 4th Generation swissQprint machines, I was keen to learn more.
Managing Director, James Hunt, explains, “In the past, we have used Agfa flatbed machines. We also have a Zund flatbed cutter, and we knew there was a connection between Zund and swissQprint, so we thought we would take a closer look. We were really impressed.”
He continues, “We loved that everything was built in-house, with no third-party elements. This gave us much confidence that, even though this would be a big investment, it would be something that was definitely going to last. The swissQprint team very proudly told us they were supporting a machine that was over 15 years old and still running well at a London-based print company. This was important to us. We wanted to know that the printer would be properly supported for as long as we were using it.”
James was also keen to talk about the performance of the Nyala 4. “This machine is second to none when it comes to printing. The quality is amazing. It is also a dream to use. We can switch between flat sheets and rolls very quickly and very easily. For a printer of this type, this is good – class-leading!”
More options – more business
With the new printer in place and working well, James and The Creative Place team are now keen to maximise the value of the investment by increasing business. “Like many others, we are dealing with the challenges of coming out of the pandemic. The market is very different from how it was before. We must be much more reactive to clients’ needs to win their business. The new printer is already helping us win more business because it makes us faster, more versatile and more responsive. We are receiving phone calls and turning jobs around in a couple of hours – we simply couldn’t have done that before.”
Getting more done
The Creative Place also has a Mimaki UJV55-320 roll-to-roll machine, and James has found the Nyala 4 to be a great backup to this machine, giving them a real competitive edge. “Of course, we purchased the Nyala as a flatbed primarily. However, the ability to easily change to roll-fed printing means that we can deliver more jobs more quickly without investing in another roll machine. We haven’t had this option before, and it makes a big difference. Jobs that took eight hours or more can now be delivered in little more than an hour. That is having a huge impact on our business.”
Another big advantage of the new machine is the ability to print white. “We are getting loads more jobs that require white printing now, and our previous machine simply couldn’t deliver this. We get lots of retail work, window graphics, static cling and the like, and they all need perfectly white whites. The Nyala delivers this time and again and at great speed. It’s revolutionised what we can offer customers regarding the range of solutions, the quality of the print and how quickly we can deliver.”
James also talks about the increased variety of media they can now work with. “Because the Nyala is an LED UV machine, it is a much cooler curing process than the mercury system we had previously. This means we can work with a much broader range of substrates and, in turn, means we can take on more different jobs.”
James concludes, “So far, we have nothing but positive things to say about this printer. The operators are delighted with it because it is a dream to use and very easy to maintain. It has already improved morale in the workshop because it prints at such a high quality that it never needs to be redone. In the first few weeks, I would say we won four or five major projects that we simply couldn’t have done without it.”
