ImagesMagUK_Digital_Edition_March_2018

DIGITAL PRINTING www.images-magazine.com 82 images MARCH 2018 Fotofabric: DGI FT-1608 high speed transfer sublimation printer, from Sabur Ian Porter, director Tell us a bit about your business We are a digital fabric printing company formed in 2012. We offer various fabric- based products, including garments, canvases, blankets and cushions, on which we print images, be they photographs or artists’ creations. We do this for consumers who buy through our website and other platforms such as Amazon, and businesses for whom we deliver white-labelled dropship services and larger bulk orders that are sent direct to their retail outlet clients. What digital printing system do you use? We purchased the DGI FT-1608 in November 2017. After viewing the printer in Sabur’s showroom and seeing both the quality and print speed, we made the decision to buy the machine there and then at a cost of £35,000. The printer now sits side by side with our Klieverik calendar press and easily copes with our production demands. We part-exchanged one of our old Roland RS-640 printers that we had originally purchased also from Sabur. As a new start business in 2012 it was imperative that we worked alongside a company that could nurture us. We spoke to Dean [Sanger, managing director] at Sabur and he agreed to stay late one evening to meet up with us as we still had fulltime jobs through the day. When we initially started our business, as most new ventures know, money was tight so we started off with a second user Roland RS-640 that they had previously supplied and taken back as a part-exchange, and we also bought a small Sefa heat press. What other systems, if any, did you look at before purchasing this one? We visited a couple of companies with various printers including Epson and Mutoh. Why did you choose your current system and what do you think are its main advantages? To be brutally honest we chose the DGI FT-1608 as it was recommended by Sabur and that made it an easy decision. They offered a three-year warranty that is fully covered by their own engineers, and as we’ve grown the business working alongside Sabur we personally know their engineers. The main advantage of the printer is its speed – it has enabled us to double our production in the same time slots as it took with the two printers we originally had, meaning we are able to cut lead times and improve our service to the customer, while delivering a quality product. Do you have any tips on how to get the most out of it? Take time and care when loading the paper and then the printer does the work. It just runs, it really is that simple. What is it used for – what size runs and type of work? We use it for all of our products so that can be a sweatshirt panel or a canvas on a single order to runs in excess of 60 metres containing around 100 cushion panels at a time, which are then pressed and sent to the sewing room. What other machines do you have and do you use any of them in combination with your digital printing system? We still have a Roland RT-640 that we kept as a safety net – but in truth it is very rarely used – and we also have a Klieverik calendar press that we also purchased through Sabur. What would be your advice to others thinking of buying a digital printing system? Easy answer: speak to Sabur – as long as you’re not going to make cushions! www.fotofabr1c.co.uk It has enabled us to double our production Ian of Fotofabric (left) with Dean of Sabur and the DGI FT-1608