In an exclusive interview with Signlink, Kevin Hart, production manager, explains that the decision to invest was made after viewing the machine at last year’s Sign and Digital UK. Hart explains: “We first saw the machine at Sign and Digital. It was the speed, the cost per metre, the functionality, and its productivity. There was quite a lot of plus points about the machine and it was generally the cost, speed, and how much it was going to save us on service charges per month.

“We already have a longstanding relationship with Océ because we’re the first company in the UK to have the Colorwave. We got the Colorwave and the Arizona flatbed in six years ago, so it was just the natural progression to look at giving our customers more speed, better costing per metre. It opens up a new world of work for us because these machines do a lot more substrates.”

We already have a longstanding relationship with Océ because we’re the first company in the UK to have the Colorwave”

Aspen Corporate is part of the same group as Print Search and Caspa Marketing, DCB Group, which was set up in 2008 by David Charles Beale and will be celebrating its ten-year anniversary this year. The two print firms boast a list of blue-chip companies as customers, including Premier League football teams and Carlsberg UK.

Hart continues: “The Colorado can print on 700-micron paper which is roller banner material. Some of our old machines could do that but they didn’t have the speed. It’s new technology, uses less inks, and is friendlier to the environment because we’re using less, with obviously taking two printers out of the equation and going to one. We like to keep on top of new technology as well.”

The installation of the Océ Colorado

The Colorado replaces two Colorwaves and an HP Designjet, which reduces the firm’s footprint, as well as costs. It also allows Aspen to diversify into other markets, including the interior décor sector, which is expanding quickly. Hart explains: “We started doing light box printing, which we didn’t do before. Light box prints is a new thing for us because of the length of the drying time. Now, they come off instantly dry. With the time and cost halved, we can put that to the customers.”

Hart adds: “We’re going to start looking at wallpaper and floor graphics. The biggest side of our business is the digital, because it has grown the most. When we started the digital side, we only had poster printers and we’ve got three sheet-fed Konica Minoltas and now we’ve obviously invested in this new roll-fed one.”

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