ImagesMagUK_Digital_Edition_March_2018

DIGITAL PRINTING www.images-magazine.com 80 images MARCH 2018 Telling it like it is: digital printing equipment Bang Tidy Clothing: Epson SureColor F7200, from i-Sub Images talks to five very different digital print businesses about how their choice of digital printing system is working out for them Nick Collinson, managing director Tell us a bit about your business Bang Tidy Clothing started out as a DTG printing business, originally from one of my spare bedrooms and with £1,500 in capital, that’s all we had. In our third year we had six brand new DTG machines and turned over nearly £1,000,000. We have moved four times since we started and now have a state of the art, 10,000 sq foot production facility, and employ 20 people. We added embroidery in 2014, wide format sublimation in 2015 and screen print in 2016. In recent years we have developed a range of other digitally printed products, with the latest being metal wall art, printed roller blinds, digitally printed carpets, digital print coffee tables, and the more traditional range of mugs, coasters, bags wallets, bar runners, beanies and, of course, printed clothing. Our speciality is high quality, all-over-print garments and aprons, an area that has been a major driver of growth over the last 12 months. We export over 60% of our turnover. What is the latest digital printing machine that you have bought? An Epson SC-F7200 from i-Sub, acquired in January to keep up with demand for our sublimation business. We also needed a bigger printer to get the best from our large Monti Antonio heat presses; the largest one is a Mod. 200 with twin 3.6 x 1.6 metre beds. What are its main advantages are? We bought the Epson SC-F7200 as part of an on-going capital expenditure plan. We have a long standing relationship with i-Sub and they have been very helpful with our requirements. Its main advantages are the print speed and quality of print, with in-built feed take-up and media dryer. What other machines, if any, did you look at before purchasing this one? We considered a Mimaki, but as we have other Epson machines we wanted consistency, plus it also offered the highest value for money. Is there anything you’d like to see in an upgrade or don’t particularly like about it? It’s very hard to say really as this machine does everything you could want from it. There is nothing we dislike about it. What’s it like to use? Do you have any tips on how to get the most out of it? It’s very easy to use. With just a day’s training from the i-Sub engineers we were up and running the same day, producing some fantastic fleece throws. What is it used for – what size runs and type of work? Both our Epson sublimation printers (we also have the Epson SC-F6200) feed a number of heat presses. We typically are a print-on-demand business so our batch sizes can be as low as one unit; on the other hand we are equally well equipped to produce volume. With the installation of this machine our output for bar runners now stands at around 250-300 per hour, and that can be 250 different designs or all the same, it makes no difference to the output. What would be your advice to others thinking of buying a digital printing machine? As with every purchase, do your research and make sure you think about some future-proofing: consider not just what you want to do now, but other opportunities and products that you could look at. www.bangtidyclothing.co.uk Metal wall art printed by Nick on the Epson SC-F7200