Market Harborough-based Visual Marketing and Graphic Services (VMGS) installed a 3.2m Mimaki and two cutters in January 2023.

The POS specialist’s investment saw it buy a Mimaki UJV55-320 3.2m UV LED press, Kongsberg X24 Edge digital cutting table and a Graphtec FC 9000-160 cutting plotter. All the kit was from reseller CMYUK. 

VMGS’ latest spend builds on its 2019 haul of a Mimaki JFX200-2513EX flatbed and UCJV150-160 UV LED press, with which the company managed to bring its production in-house for the first time.

Ken Mardon, co-director at VMGS, said the new 3.2m press’ installation has put the company in a position to expand significantly.

He said: “Not many [local] businesses have a super-wide printer, and this puts us in a strong position particularly around our local area of Market Harborough and Leicester. 

“Companies here are outsourcing their 3.2m work further afield with ten to fourteen-day lead times. We can guarantee a much faster turnaround and we’re on the doorstep. So, marketing wise, we’re starting local and then emanating outwards as far as possible.”

When the first investment round was made, the company was turning over £600,000 annually; by the end of 2022, it had grown to £1.5m.

The decision to buy another Mimaki press was easy, according to Mardon.

“I don't want lots of different machines running from different RIPs. I want production to run very simply. If, for example, our production manager is unwell, I like it that anyone can cover [for them] because they know the Mimaki printers inside out,” he said.

It took longer to decide on a cutting table, however. 

“Mark and I have been in the industry for a long time, so we know about digital cutting tables, but deciding what we were going to buy and from whom, took us 9 months.”

The firm’s relationship with CMYUK, and Kongsberg’s reputation in the market sealed the deal in the end, Mardon added.

The business invested in a Kongsberg X24 Edge with a 1kW milling spindle, camera, and standard kiss cut and drag knives, and VMGS will soon be adding a creasing head.

Even after the first job, a 100m banner run, the advantages of a digital cutter were clear compared to hand-cutting, Mardon said.

He added: “It’s early days yet, so we can’t say how much more productive we will be, but with this first job, our throughput increased by 30% and I’m being conservative.”