Recently one of our customers, Mr Lee Ashford sent us an article that he wrote and posted onto his Facebook business page, about how he started his printing business after purchasing our very own FastCOLOUR printing machine. It gives us such immense great pleasure to see and read reviews/testimonials of this caliber from our happy clients. We are really honoured to receive such.
Right below is Mr Lee Ashford’s article on how to choose the best printer ever.
How I Chose My Printer
Why?
As a group of companies needing printing done, we had no choice but to outsource our print work.
With sales increasing and the demand for more print work, we found ourselves at the mercy of the printing supplier. The minimum quantity order and lead time put a burden on our cash flow, as we have a variety of prints. Yes, as a business, we also manufacture and have the same with other suppliers, it’s not unique.
A Thought.
What if I could print what I need for the month. How nice would that be?
What if we had the option of changing artwork on the drop of a hat. How nice would that be?
What if we could offer the same to our customers. How nice would that be?
What printer should I choose?
We put out the word with our local desktop printer repair tech that I was looking for a printer, the brief was it needs to print stickers. He mentioned that he had a client selling such a machine. We put in an offer and received the printer a week later.
After finding an ink and materiel supplier we ran our first batch of stickers. Very short lived, as what we had purchased was a pigment ink printer that was not good for sticker prints as well as 80% of all other printing we had intended doing in the future. Pigment ink is great for posters, certificates and canvas prints but not for stickers.
Why did we not do some research first?
Trust, I trusted someone I knew that was in the game. Who wouldn’t?
For a while we sat with a printer we could not use. Still ordering our stickers from various suppliers. With research number one on the list and a small budget (majority consumed in the pigment ink printer) we set off.
All-In-One?
I could list various printers on the market we tested but this is about our choice and how we came to our decision. What we noticed with most brands currently on the market is that they have incorporated the cutter/plotter into the printer.
I thought this to be brilliant as we won’t need that much floor space.
Remembering what one of my previous suppliers had told me that my small stickers took up too much of his time as they need to print then contour cut. He would have to wait for all my small stickers, during this time he could not use his printer.
Was an All-In-One the route I wanted to take?
“Cutting plotters use knives to cut into a piece of material (such as paper, mylar or vinyl) that is lying on the flat surface area of the plotter. It is achieved because the cutting plotter is connected to a computer, which is equipped with specialized cutting design or drawing computer software programs.” Thanks, Wikipedia.
To print, then take the print job to our cutters (at our own Pace), would allow our printer to carry on printing, Great. For a few years we have been using plotter/cutters from AM.CO.ZA and have not been disappointed.
Our Findings
During Sign Africa exhibition 2017, we decided to try random artwork on AM.CO.ZA FastCOLOUR printer, as we have samples stickers from our suppliers through various models of printers,
(We had something to compare against).
We were pleasantly surprised by the print quality and the PRICE.
Almost a year later using the FastCOLOUR, not only are we printing all our own prints but running a very successful business supplying our customers with standards that we demanded.
Comparison between FastCOLOUR and Roland.
The purpose of this project is not to identify what printer is better than the other but merely to suggest a cheaper option with similar capabilities. The difference between prints could vary so slightly with different vinyl (brands), colour profiles and software setup.
Other Items printed on the AM.CO.ZA FastCOLOUR
Print on Canvas
Print on vinyl
I do think that all solvent printers have the ability to print alike. If your print profile is set up and you utilize the software correctly, you can achieve excellent prints. It’s all about your budget and backup service provided. We have achieved what we set out to do and more.
If you would like to read up Mr Lee Ashford’s article on Facebook, you can follow the link below, directing you to his Facebook page
After a few accidental purchases Mr Ashford finally stumbled upon AM.CO.ZA’s FastCOLOUR printer which he now goes on to rant and rave about.
This printer is a multifaceted device with the following astounding features:
·It has 2 Internal reactors which are used to dry ink quicker so that you can print a lot of items in a short space of time.
·It has Eco-Solvent Ink, making it fade-resistant, waterproof and resistant to abrasion.
·It has a cable that you can use to connect the printer, to the computer for a Fast and Stable printing process.
Just to name a few!
I’m not surprised though because our FastCOLOUR printer is a definite great value for your money. Not only does it yield high quality print media but it is also very economical.
You can also start your own business today just like Lee and call us on 072 222 2211 to buy your own FastCOLOUR printer. It’s that simple.
