With various unearthed attributes, the advanced wide format printers allow USI to explore possibilities in various other industries and help enhance its footprints across the country.
The world of wide format digital printing is yet to evolve as its numerous possibilities are still undiscovered. Initially centered around the signage industry, the digital printing has slowly been finding ways in various other industries as well. This is not only adding options to the new age printing technologies, but also bringing reasons for the printing stakeholders to smile with greater business opportunities on the floor. “Not only signage, but our printers are now addressing the needs of varied industries such as door manufacturing, almirah making, wall paper printing, etc. The attributes allow us to explore and experiment more applications in time to come,” says Mohammed Ali, Managing Director, Unique Sign Innovations (USI), while speaking to Sign & POP World.
USI is rapidly spreading its footprints in the trade of selling inkjet digital printing machines, UV printers, solvent & eco solvent, sublimation printers, hot & cold laminator, laser & CNC router, solvent & eco solvent inks, UV inks and high quality spares – all from Chennai in the state of Tamil Nadu. “In last six months, we have expanded our business to various parts of the country including cities like Mumbai, Surat, Ahmadabad, Cuttack, Coimbatore, while quite a few bookings from north are awaiting installations,” says Ali.
USI is currently sourcing quality products exclusively from internationally renowned brands like Yaselan, Xuli, Unilami and Unique Inks. Delving deep into the company’s business, Ali shares that the demand for its wide format printers is not only limited to the signage industry, but has gone beyond to encompass a variety of other industries. “Our printers are attracting various stakeholders from different industries who are planning to start a new business or want to add variety in their existing portfolio of offerings. We are receiving very good feedback from our clients and are thankful to them for showing belief in us,” he stresses.
Speaking on the diversity of usage, Ali says, “Our printers are now finding new applications other than signage. With recent few installations, it is evident that the wide format printers have opened up new and expanded window of opportunities for us. We are very happy with the diversifications as these would only expand from now onwards. Soon, we will also be catering to the requirements of glass industry.” He informs that YSLG5 KT3020 has gone to door manufacturer of Ahmedabad in Gujarat, while YSLG5 KT2513 has been installed at the enthusiastic almirah makers from Cuttack in Orissa.
Elaborating on the printers that USI has recently installed, Ali shares that in the Pioneer Series of Yaselan, True UV Flat Bed G2513 printer comes escorted with RicohGen5 printheads (4 or 8 heads featuring 1280 Nozzels/head) to offer high speed and best quality output. The machines sport individual negative pressure ink supply system for stable printing, UMC Technology-based board, servo motor and driver from Fuji, THK mute double guided rail for silent and smooth operation from Japan, Photo Print RIP Software from Sai, and UV LED lamp fitted with water-cooled 16W/cm².
With highest speed of 25sqm/h, the other features include imported high resolution metal raster to reduce mechanical error to get the moving resolution of the carriage to 0.01mm so as to meet high print quality demand of the customers. Its double screw rods along with double servo motors keep high accuracy of stepping, while pulse driven Ricoh Gen5 industrial printheads equipped with the grayscale printing technology can control the ink dot at 7-35pl.
Another printer that USI has installed to be used for wall paper printing is Xuli Xaar 1201 Eco-Solvent. As the name suggests, this high resolution printer comes equipped with Xaar 1201 printhead that facilitates high quality printing (up to 1280 dpi) at a maximum speed of 21 sqm/hr. Capable of printing 1, 2 or 4 colours, the Xaar printhead uses thin film piezo silicon micro electrical mechanical system (MEMS) technology, which is suitable for wide-format graphics (WFG) and textiles. With industrial grade circuit design, its performance and quality can achieve super high stability with very low failure rate.
The printer comes equipped with RIP colour management software to ensure the accuracy in colour output, while the cost-efficient industrial Xaar printhead makes it a less maintenance machine when compared with others. Features include automatic material take-up and release system work stability, the error correction alarm function of automatic drying system and automatic ink feeding system – together allow to achieve higher intelligence.
With all this already installed and quite a few in his orderbook, Ali feels overwhelmed with the response he has been getting from the market. “All these are totally different applications than what we were focusing earlier. It is not the signage only, but our printers are finding various other applications,” says Ali adding that recently his company has finalised a deal for four UV machines – one each is from Xuli and Xenon, while two are from Yaselan. “These are machines that can be used for various other applications which are not yet experienced. With Yesalan’s high quality flatbed printers, we are targeting furniture companies for architectural and interior designing purposes.”
This is not the limit. “We have plans to soon diversify in flooring industries wherein the scope of opportunities is extremely wide, which we want to materialise without any further delay,” says Ali adding that all these could become possible because of the USI team that comprises extremely professional people with needed expertise. “For instance, with dedicated service department for new age printing machines, we can cater to our customers spread across the states of Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Telangana, Karnataka, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Kerala,” he asserts.
The company is going to launch its high-speed 6-feet eco-solvent machine from Yaselan’s pioneer Series in the Mumbai Edition of Media Expo 2019.