The world’s largest signage franchise, Sign-A-Rama, has chosen the HP Designjet L25500 printer with HP Latex inks to drive its green platform and improve speed to market.
The Group’s Director of Operations in Australia, Brian Pretorius, said the decision to partner with HP was first made in the USA with Australia/New Zealand coming on board thereafter.
“Every new Sign-A-Rama store will now have the HP Designjet L25500 as part of the opening package,” said Mr. Pretorius.
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| The Designjet L25500 |
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| Shane Lucas |
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| Brian Pretorius |
In Australia there are 88 franchises, with 23 across New Zealand under the Speedy Signs banner. Mr. Pretorius said the Group had undertaken extensive investigation to determine the best printer for its franchises considering all options.
“It is important that Sign-A-Rama employs the latest technology to provide a fast, high quality service that meets the instant signage platform. In this environment speed is critical. And with shifts in the marketplace in relation to environmental options, having a green offering has also become commercially necessary. Factoring all these aspects, the HP Designjet L25500 proved to be the best option available.”
He continued. “A growing number of Local Government Councils in Australia, as well as large corporations, are going green. We see the HP Designjet Latex ink printer as the right solution to enable our franchises to meet the changing needs of the market and to show leadership”.
Sign-A-Rama franchises are located in prime retail areas. “We can’t put a solvent printer, which is highly toxic, into an environment like a storefront without a lot of safeguards. We’ve been working with eco-solvent printers, but there are still issues with VOCs. With the HP Latex inks though we’ve removed these concerns. This means we can provide a better working environment for Sign-A-Rama staff, and for their customers”.
Mr. Pretorius said the company trialed the HP Designjet L25500 for a six-month period at the Joondalup Sign-A-Rama franchise in Perth with great results. “We put the printer through its paces producing a broad range of signage including vehicle wraps. The outcome was sensational. We currently have eight franchises with the Latex machine and all are thrilled with the printer”.
The benefits of the HP Designjet L25500 with HP Latex inks are multiple, said Mr. Pretorius. “The sign business is labour intensive, so anything we can do to reduce the time to market is a tangible benefit. The speed at which signs can be made, finished and dispatched is impressive. With the Latex inks there is no need to de-gas, as there is with solvent and eco-solvent prints. This means we can deliver products much faster. And by reducing the time to print and install, we reduce the overall cost of the signs, a savings we can pass onto customers. Plus the cost of the HP Latex inks and the replacement heads are more economical than our previous print platform. All these things combined make us more competitive”.
Mr. Pretorius said the previous printer model used by the franchises was a print and cut machine. “This slowed down production time. With the HP Designjet L25500 prints can be queued and the machine can keep running unattended while signs are finished off line. This provides a much faster, more efficient production workflow and means the volume of work produced can be increased without having to increase overheads”.
In choosing HP as its preferred large format provider Mr. Pretorius said, “HP’s reputation was important to us. We’ve watched HP and the company’s approach to digital printing and advancing technology in this market. They’ve achieved fantastic results and brilliant quality. And the HP distribution network is experienced and reliable, which is important as we have franchises across the region and require a stable supply and support network”.
Shane Lucas, Director, HP Graphic Arts South Pacific said the deal with Sign-A-Rama reflected the acceptance of the HP Latex ink technology as an industry standard. “The agreement with HP and Sign-A-Rama demonstrates the Group’s commitment to working with leading edge technology that is commercially viable and provides a sound environmental platform. Sign-A-Rama needed a printer that was fast, green and fitted a storefront model – the HP Designjet L25500 was the ideal solution to meet Sign-A-Rama’s high volume, quick turnaround proposition”.
HP Australia
www.hp.com.au/graphicarts
