To meet the demands of its rapidly growing business, PartyBanners.co.uk, part of The Banners Warehouse, has taken a dual-head Mutoh ValueJet 2638. The machine was supplied and installed by Greenford-based Colourgen reseller, Digital Print Media.
PartyBanners.co.uk provides an easy-to-use, customer-friendly service that allows people to design and order custom-made banners through their website. Using pre-built templates, companies and private individuals can order one or more banners to virtually any specification, any design or any size. Banners are produced to a very high quality and are shipped for next day delivery anywhere in the UK or Ireland.
Mark Long, founder and owner of The Banners Warehouse (PartyBanners.co.uk), said: “We built the online banner design application entirely from scratch and have spent nearly ten years developing it into the comprehensive, easy-to-use solution it is now. We are producing hundreds of banners of all sizes every week and customers are always delighted with the quality, service and cost.”
Long continued: “Our strength is in the flexibility we offer. Our software allows customers to design their banner online through our website or even from their mobile phone, either using one of our templates or completely from scratch if they prefer. The system then processes that design and puts it in to the workflow that results in a high quality, durable banner. The customer can also specify how the banner is finished, in terms of hemming, eyelets or other requirements.”
Mark’s background is from within the printing industry, but with an engineering slant. From the age of ten, he spent time in his father’s printing company and he went on to study engineering. In later years, he taught himself how to programme and develop web sites. All this experience has come together to drive the success of PartyBanners.co.uk.
“Around 80% of our customers are people needing one or two banners for a special event or party,” said Long, adding, “However, an increasing amount of our business is coming from commercial companies. These companies are competing with large chains that are able to purchase a lot of point of sale material, which is shared across the chain. We are able to provide this same opportunity and service to smaller companies and franchisees, allowing them to take advantage of one-off or seasonal advertising so they can compete on an equal footing with the chains.”
As well as the online design application, which is PartyBanners.co.uk’s main USP, the other most important element is the printer. “The company is built on quality and reliability and this means never going to a customer and saying we couldn’t deliver your banner because our printer broke down. We have a back up for everything because if we don’t meet our customers’ requirements then we have a problem,” Long explained.
Since the start of the business, PartyBanners.co.uk has worked with David Bearman at Digital Print Media (DPM). Long said: “We have a lot of trust in DPM, particularly when it comes to the advice and guidance they offer. He first recommended Mutoh printers and we have stuck with this choice all the way from our first Rockhopper right through to the new ValueJet 2638. As an engineer I like to be able to get the most out of all my printers and the build quality of the Mutoh’s has allowed me to keep printers running and producing high quality output for many years.”
He continued: “Our business is all about the speed and efficiency of our workflow. This means our printers need to be fast, reliable and deliver consistently high quality. We purchased the new Mutoh VJ2638 as a backup to two of our older 2.2m machines but the speed and ease of use of the printer has meant that it has taken over from the other machines to become our main printer. We have been able to get nearly 80sqm/h out of the VJ2638, but tend to run it at around 36sqm/h for the majority of our work.”
Another key advantage is Mutoh’s new Universal Mild Solvent ink with its rapid drying time. “The ink dries immediately so as soon as it comes out of the printer, the output is ready to be cut and finished. Output from the older machines needs around 15 minutes to dry, which means we have significantly speeded up our workflow and are now able to get through more banners, more cost-effectively. Also, by using the full 2.6m of the machine and the nesting function in the Rip, we have been able to minimise media wastage and maximise productivity.”
Long’s son, Justin Edwards runs the day-to-day operations of the company and he is also very impressed with the new Mutoh. “It is such a reliable machine and everything about it is easier to use. It requires very little maintenance so it saves a lot of time. It is also very versatile, which allows us to increase the range of products and services we can offer to customers if required.”
He added: “Another great feature is the vacuum bed, which allows the media to go through the printers more smoothly than before. This adds to the consistency and quality of the output and further helps us to have a cost effective and efficient workflow. It is this workflow that allows us to deliver the quality and rapid response our customers enjoy, as well as the unbeatable costs of our banners.”
As the company grows, Long knows that he is working with a printer manufacturer that will continue to deliver printers that meet their ever-expanding requirements. “We are looking to expand internationally as well is in the UK and this may well mean we need to increase our printing capacity and we will certainly be sticking with Mutohs. Similarly, in DPM and Colourgen, we have partners that understand our business and our requirements as well as work hard to ensure we have solutions we need to grow and develop our business.”