As a print and signage business that specialises in working with festival and concert promotion companies, Twenty Four Seven Design and Print Ltd. delivers a complete publicity package for musicians and music events. Working closely with event organisers and promoters, the Warrington business prints everything from leaflets, general POS products, safety banners, instruction booklets and even road signs – all can now be finished on the company’s new DYSS digital cutting system supplied by AG/CAD.
Formed in 1997, TwentyFourSeven started as a screen print business that evolved into litho and digital printing to keep abreast of new trends and technology. As Company Director, Mr. Alan Burton, says:
We are a solutions company offering turnkey packages to our client base. The core aim is to continually reduce costs for our customers. We do this by investing in the latest equipment and technology.
More recently this investment has included wide format Mimaki JV3 and JV33 roll printers, an Océ Arizona flatbed, an Océ ColorWave poster printer and now a DYSS X7-1630 super-head digital cutter from AG/CAD. Commenting upon the purchase of the DYSS X7-1630, Mr. Burton said:
We recognised the onset of bespoke print projects, single source supply, and more recently the requirement for a JIT supply chain. We bought a Xerox AP5000 and a Canon Imagepress for SRA3 digital work, but customers were frequently also asking for large format and diverse media types such as PERSPEX® signage.
The cutting of geometrically challenging PERSPEX®, vinyl, card, foam boards and floor graphics was being subbed out whilst we handled a lot of simpler hand cutting internally. The problem for our business was that both internal hand-cutting and subcontract cutting were time consuming, creating bottlenecks and putting pressure on the workflow and JIT supply chain.
We looked at a variety of digital cutters, but the DYSS X7-1630 super-head machine from AG/CAD was very robust and well-priced, plus AG/CAD are also quite local to us. This gave us confidence that we’d have a solid, long-lasting machine and would get a high level of service from a local supplier -although in fact we haven’t had any issues that have require this service yet. Additionally, the machine combined with the KASEMAKE software made for a very impressive package and enabled us to see the potential business opportunities we could access with this type of system.
The 3m by 1.6m bed on the DYSS has eliminated the reliance on subcontract cutting services, reduced lead-times and enhanced the quality of the products that Twenty Four Seven supplies.
Not only have we improved quality, consistency and precision of our products, we have significantly reduced the manual labour required for many jobs. Furthermore, the subcontract cutting costs and associated lead-times have been completely eliminated. In the short period of time that we have had the DYSS X7, we can qualify that at least 20% of the investment in this system is already justified by the reduction in subcontract cutting costs.
Looking forward, the business has taken the approach that the robust DYSS is a long-term investment, giving the Cheshire business the ability to extend its portfolio of services and add value for its clients.
Work for music concerts and shopping centres that was previously cut by hand is now processed on the DYSS. As Mr. Burton continues:
We recently completed graphics to fit on the elevator doors at the Liverpool 1 retail complex, the 14 elevator door graphics would have taken over 1.5 hours to cut by hand, using the DYSS this labour intensive task is completed in less than 15 minutes.
More and more large customers are aiming to consolidate their supply chain by using one supplier or marketing agency to provide a complete package. In the case of the flagship Liverpool 1 Centre, we are cementing a position as a leading supplier. This is because we can produce window stickers, tabletop pop-ups, POS promotions, gift cards and wallets, elevator artwork and even booklets and shopping centre guides. This is credit to the technical expertise of our team and of course the diverse range of production equipment we have on-site.
The KASEMAKE CAD software is also giving us a clear advantage with customers like Liverpool 1. For example, some of the recent proposals we have submitted have been provided with complete PDF visuals and MP4 movie virtual walkthroughs of the shopping centre showing our proposed designs and artwork hanging over stairwells and on elevators. The impact of this 3D tool at the quoting stage is a huge advantage.
On a Roll With DYSS
The company specified the DYSS X7-1630 with the automatic roll feed and conveyor system. This provides a seamless transition of printed rolls from the Océ Arizona large format digital printer through the DYSS to finished product. The automatic roll feed and conveyor system on the X7 works in harmony with the K-CUT vision system to guarantee unprecedented levels of precision and parallel alignment when cutting rolls beyond the length of the machine bed. This automatic conveyor system is continually put to work at TwentyFourSeven with the company frequently printing and cutting batches of 30+ banners that can vary from 8 by 2 foot through to considerably longer banners. Mr. Burton concludes:
We picked the AG/CAD solution for a number of reasons, but none was more important than the capability and potential of the extremely powerful KASEMAKE system. This software is helping to future proof our business and, together with the robust and reliable digital cutter, makes for an unbeatable package that is opening new avenues for us.