Venture Banners has added a third EFI VUTEk FabriVU dye sublimation printer to its production equipment. Purchased from CMYUK, the VUTEk FabriVU 340i+ is EFI’s latest dye-sublimation printer. It offers direct-to-substrate and paper sublimation printing, along with an integrated fixing unit that removes the need for a separate heat press, thereby saving time, money, and floor space.
This latest model includes incremental improvements and some redesigned elements. It features 8 Kyocera printheads rather than 4, doubling resolution from 300 to 600dpi, and increasing POP speeds by 48%. A redesigned heating plate ensures improved temperature uniformity particularly between jobs and less outgassing with the same colour intensity, but overall faster system reaction. A new flag ink removal kit allows the system to manage high ink volumes without touching the loaded material.
Textile printing growth
Essex-based Venture Banners started to offer soft signage solutions in 2017, and now this sector accounts for over 40% of its business. “We’ve become very proficient at printing textile materials, and the new 340i+ joins our two existing FabriVU 340 dye sublimation printers and a Klieverik calender press, which along with our digital cutting tables are always incredibly busy,” says Scott Conway, Director, Venture Banners.
“Apart from the fact that we needed another textile printer to cope with increased volumes, we also wanted to buy ourselves some contingency. If our Klieverik calender press ever went down for any reason, we wouldn’t be able to sublimate our materials, so investing in a printer with inline fixation, gives us a complete back up,” he adds.
Venture Banners has implemented the new FabriVU 340i+ primarily for its exceptional flag work, appreciating its superb colour vibrancy and excellent show through properties. While the new features are impressive, Scott is impressed with the overall FabriVU proposition. “We still use our old FabriVUs for all our backlit, display polyester and stretch work, they are still extremely productive. It’s nothing short of spectacular seeing all three of the FabriVUs running together,” he says.
Increased finishing department
The growth in textile applications has significantly expanded the business’ finishing capabilities and it now has 17 sewing machines and 9 dedicated finishing operatives working in-house.
“There seemed to be a shortage of good finishing staff a couple of years ago, we put it down to Brexit and the post COVID situation of people wishing to work from home. The situation has changed and I’m not sure why, all I can say is that we have a thriving, high calibre cohort of finishing staff. They are busy producing large amounts of silicon edge graphics for lightboxes, displays, and flags,” says Scott.
EFI VUTEk all the way
Venture Banners is proud to call itself an EFI VUTEK house. It installed its first EFI VUTEK 3250 UV LED hybrid printer in 2012, followed a year later by a second model. Next came 2 x FabriVU 340 dye sublimation printers, then 2 x EFI VUTEk h5 hybrid UV LED models in 2021 and 2022 respectively, and the latest FabriVU 3401+, installed in February this year.
The combined arsenal of capabilities, applications, and speed that Venture can output through its EFI equipment is impressive. However, what’s really consequential is that every piece of EFI capital investment is still in daily operation. Verging on an understatement, Scott says simply, “We look after our equipment really well.”
Early days
Venture was set up by Scott Conway and Wayne Bodimeade in 2009, and for the first two years outsourced all printing requirements. When its printer contractor let them down, and prompted by calls from Robin East, Group Commercial Director, CMYUK, they went to Brussels to view the EFI VUTEK GS printer series.
“When we invested in our first EFI printer, it was a total game changer, it was easy to use, never went wrong, and the print quality was amazing, we use it to output our banner work and it still prints beautifully. When we had a major flood in 2014, which impacted some of our equipment, EFI really looked after us, flying in printer parts overnight, which was so helpful. We have a great relationship with CMYUK too, we really value their opinions and expertise, they know what they’re doing. It’s been fascinating for us to watch the evolution of CMYUK over the years, and I’m sure they’d say the same about us,” says Scott.
Looking ahead, Venture is poised to further expand its presence in the textiles market consistently adding value wherever possible.
Find the Eye on Display Industry Directory listing for Venture Banners here as well as their feature article here.
