he six-colour printer with white plus varnish was installed at the Chessington-based firm's premises around two months ago. The company opted for the machine's roll-to-roll option - so it can print flexible media as well as rigid materials - and the add-on will be delivered next month.

The white ink enables the company to print on a wide selection of transparent materials and the varnish provides the scope to produce special effects.

“Over the past 18 months we looked at a number of options but eventually discovered the Mira, which offered the best quality and flexibility. We also found Agfa to be the most responsive company of those we contacted,” said Graphica Display managing director Rob Hill.

He added the two machines provide advantages for the firm when it is faced with tight deadlines for retail promotions.

The 2.69x3.2m-wide Jeti Mira, which was launched earlier this year, prints at speeds of up to 227sqm/hr.

The machine features a moving-gantry architecture and split-vacuum table featuring six vacuum zones, with automatic and independent control of the front and back zones. A 'print and prepare' mode enables non-stop printing, with the operator loading one side of the table while the other side is printing.

The Jeti Mira was purchased at the same time as a Blackman & White cutter/router. Hill said the two pieces of equipment, which cost the firm around £400,000 in total, complement each other. For example, Graphica can now print on rigid acrylic and cut to shape with clean smooth edges that require no further finishing.

“Another advantage is that the Mira produces superb colour quality images using only a thin layer of Agfa’s inks, resulting in a substantial saving on ink usage compared to other printers,” said Graphica Display general manager Richard Birch.

Graphica Display, which was founded around 10 years ago, serves clients including Axa Group, Caffé Nero, Debenhams, Lacoste and Specsavers and is also an approved supplier for the Boeing EMEA region.

It produces a variety of display and signage for retail, commercial, interiors, events and public sector contracts.