Case study from Agfa

Innovative POS manufacturer, RDD Creative has installed their first inkjet printer, Agfa’s Anapurna FB2540i LED, to fill an important gap in their production process.

Leicester based RDD Creative offer POS concept designs, one off prototyping, larger scale manufacturing and installation for many of the UK leading retail brands. Established four years ago they create amazing POS, with all processes in-house including 3D design development, CAD services, graphic design, joinery, acrylic fabrication, assembly and finishing as well as flat bed and 3D Printing within their two Leicester facilities. RDD largely work with advertising agencies, POP companies and sales promotion clients who in turn work for retailer brands. Their growth in the past 4 years has been phenomenal due to their creativity and unbeatable response times, rolling out creative concepts into large scale production. Their success is reflected in a turnover jump from £200k per year to the equivalent per month this year and a staff growth from three to 45 people over the same period. “The missing link in our production processes was the print.” Said product designer, founder and Operations Director Phil Roberts. “We worked with external printers and struggled to get the quality and accuracy demanded by us and by required our retail clients. We are always on a tight deadline so moving this process in-house made sense. One morning I searched on Linkedin, found a local print specialist Josero Ltd and talked with them about our requirements to buy a printer to give us more control. I knew we employed people with the required skills to get a better result, they weren’t printers, but they’ve worked hard to get the machine to dovetail beautifully into our processes and I’m delighted with the result.” Phil and his team looked into a number of printer options and settled on the Anapurna FB2540i LED, a true flatbed press with minimal movement that will print on any substrate. The quality of the print, the effectiveness of its workflow, the Agfa Asanti software that communicates with the CNC machines and the training and support given by Agfa not only sold the press but reassured them that they had selected the right partner. Agfa also introduced RDD to Graeme Williams from Litho Supplies to bring local support and to Graham Clark, Agfa’s applications specialist who visited RDD for a whole day to understand exactly what was to be required of the machine and the quality required. The Anapurna is a high-speed 6 colour plus white LED-curable flatbed inkjet press that allows borderless printing on any rigid and sheet material. It incorporates UV LED lamps for curing on heat sensitive materials like self adhesive sheets or stretch PVC materials without deforming the substrate. Agfa’s Anapurna FB2540i LED comes complete with the Asanti workflow. RDD’s MD, Deborah Walker, who has partnered Phil throughout the company’s growth, bringing strong systems and procedures into the business, agreed it was the right move. “It was a sizable investment for the company but Agfa worked closely with us from the start, demonstrating what could be achieved and training Tomasz Ek, our gifted designer, to get the most from the press. Some of our work on cosmetic POS requires tiny tolerances in print, like small halos around cut out plastic circles and the team has worked tirelessly to get the press bedded in to its own room and created special jigs to ensure the printers accuracy. Our staff create minor miracles every day and the machines we buy are critical to that success, we are all pleased with the results from our new girl ‘Ana Purna’. We were very happy with both the installation and training from Agfa so much so we are already talking with them about future products.”