Venetian production facility proudly waves the first flags printed with the Mimaki Tx400-1800D printing system
The Tx400-1800D is an inkjet system for printing directly onto fabric at the forefront of today’s technology. Pixartprinting, a highly developed Web to Print Service Provider, based in Italy, which boosts a production department equipped with the latest technology, by many called “the little Drupa”. Pixartprinting hosts the most innovative printing solutions available on the market that are consistently being implemented. The need was to print directly onto fabric with high productivity, in line with industry standards.
These are the conditions that led to the partnership between Pixartprinting, a leading European web to print company, Bompan, the exclusive importer for Italy of Mimaki printing equipment, and Cekin, an official Bompan distributor.
The goal was to find a way where all players justifiably declare themselves satisfied with winning the match.
The players involved in such a bet are all resounding names in the world of visual communication.
Firstly Bompan, which on the strength of its 15 years of activity in Italy in partnership with Mimaki, proposed itself through the distributor Cekin in order to offer Pixartprinting the new Mimaki Tx400-1800D textile printer, with the certainty of betting on a sure winner. After the first visit by Cekin to the headquarters of the Venetian company, Umberto Silvan, Head of the large format department in Pixartprinting, visited the showroom of Bompan in Tradate, where Mimaki’s wide range of solutions are available to customers for custom demonstrations carried out by highly skilled print engineers.
The print samples shown during the first meeting intrigued so much that they in fact pushed management of the Venetian company to obtain a deeper understanding of that system. “As usual we let the customer test drive the equipment in our demo room, on their own materials and using their own files. In this case Pixartprinting request was a production test run of some 100 square meters of flags to be carried out by direct printing. All this in one continuous production cycle“, explains Massimo Bompan, President and Founder of Bompan. “We are certain of the levels of excellence in production and quality achievable by the Tx400-1800D system and for us this was a challenge to be welcomed with enthusiasm and with great serenity. Remaining sure of the potential of the system we were proposing would be very much in line with the standards that have made Mimaki a benchmark in the industry“.
On the scale were the two parameters fundamental for Pixartprinting: high quality printing and high speed.
“It was exciting”, says Plinio Cecchin, associate of Cekin Srl., a company specializing in the sale of digital printing systems with a strong focus on direct printing on fabric and sublimation printing. Cecchin watched the whole demo which lasted all of 10 hours, including printing, evaluation, analysis and comments. “I have even recorded it all with a camera, because what I was witnessing was nothing short of amazing. The printing speed was out of the ordinary for a roll-to-roll printer directly on fabric. ” And with evident great satisfaction Cecchin continues illustrating other features of the Mimaki printer: “The ink feeding system using 2-liter bags, for long production runs, perfect ICC profiles, high definition printing, excellent productivity and very low ink consumption per square meter.” Plus points not to be underestimated, which Pixartprinting confirms too: “The software detects exactly how many milliliters of ink each print requires. After a few weeks of use, we already have detailed analysis and statistics about consumption and we can say that even thinking about using 3rd party inks is an absolute waste of time. The system performs, prints are excellent and consumption of inks, which are competitively priced, very reasonable.” says Alessandro Tenderini, General Manager of Pixartprinting.
The demo was done, the test passed.
The first Tx400-1800D printer was installed in the production department of Pixartprinting on July 11. And after only two days it was already operational and was integrated in the production process. But since Pixartprinting loves challenges, an aggressive promo was setup to take the printer to its limits. This summer (from July 24 to September 13) Pixartprinting invaded Europe with super aggressive pricing for the production of flags, printed with the Tx400-1800D. “It is the first time we launch such a big promotion on the market just a few days after installing a new system. Actually, with hindsight I have to admit it was a bit of a risky move. We relied on the Mimaki quality that Bompan and Cekin had guaranteed us. But the choice was right. Obviously the promotion was a huge success, suddenly ramping up demand for flags, but the system Tx400-1800D responded very well to expectations and production requirements, proving itself also reliable and efficient. From installation to mid-September we have already printed 25,000 square meters at an average speed of 50 sqm / h, even though the system is quite capable of reaching higher peak speeds“, says Matteo Rigamonti, Director and founder of Pixartprinting.
But clearly never-to-be-satisfied is in Pixartprinting DNA, after testing the quality and reliability of the Mimaki system, it has now added a whole new range of products. In addition to flags, the star of the first promotion, now the printer is also producing drapes and even a new model of drop-shaped display stand. “A real gem of today’s fashion which right now is gathering critical acclaim. This is also because flags are finally a growing trend in Italy, rather late compared to other European countries, especially the North of Europe, where the use of fabric is more widespread than that of other materials, that are more harmful to the environment.” explains Tenderini.
The Pixartprinting process automation and a unique workflow system is the key of success for quite some time already.
In Pixartprinting all printing systems are ‘orchestrated’ by a recently updated management software package named URAGANO, which automatically distributes jobs optimizing the workflow. “This is definitely one of the factors determining our price competitiveness, which may remain such on condition that workflow is ongoing and as automatic as possible. And I must admit that Tx400-1800D fully complies with our standards“, Rigamonti attests.
Not just a winning solution then, but also a surprise for the Venetian giant, which with the Tx400-1800D begins its collaboration with Bompan and Mimaki. Tenderini confirms “Certainly during the machine test we were very picky, but the Bompan staff and the Cekin team were at hand, responding with professionalism and helpfulness to all requests. And I must say, after a very short time from installation, we’re really pleased because Massimo Bompan had promised us when we met him at Fespa that the system would correspond to all the industry standards suitable for our company, and it did!”
A partnership that has all the prerequisites for long life and further developments.
“In fact we are already considering the purchase of a second Tx400-1800D system soon. We hardly ever limit ourselves to having a ‘one-only unit of a production system ‘. When a technology is reliable and meets our production standards, we always buy several machines of the same model because we must be ready to respond to market demand, not only in terms of quality but also of service, keeping faith to the delivery times we promise.” These are Rigamonti’s words that make us think this partnership with Bompan and Mimaki will grow even further over time.
