Delt Shared Services In Plymouth Invests In New HP Latex And Finishing Equipment

Image Courtesy of HP UK

New machinery offers this organisation a versatile array of possibilities, taking it beyond its initial business case for investment

Plymouth-based Delt Shared Services has purchased an HP L560 Latex printer, Graphtec FC9000-160 cutter and Easymount 1600SH laminator.

By investing in this equipment , this wholly owned public sector enterprise is now able to offer a greater range of in-house services, initially making savings of over £170,000 over a five–year period.

Latex Solution

Latex ink was developed as a green alternative to eco-solvent inks, and is made with 70% water. The inks produce high quality, clean vibrant colours and have the advantage of drying instantly.

“When your printed material comes off the Latex machine, it's ready to finish straight away. That links in with our USP, which is all about quick turnarounds as most of the jobs we print are for next day delivery,” says Aaron.

In addition to the quality of output and colour vibrancy, what Aaron really likes about the HP L560 is the highly intuitive nature of its RIP.

“That impressed me straight off the bat,” he says.  

The company invested in a Graphtec cutter because with only a guillotine in–house for small format work, it was outsourcing all its large format cutting work. An Easymount laminator was added to the list as it allowed the department to bring mounting in-house too. 

“Everywhere you go there's an Easymount. It’s an industry leader. I don't know anyone that’s got a sign shop that doesn’t have one. It was recommended by everybody,” says Aaron.

Event-Ready

The big event in the Plymouth this year was supposed to have been Plymouth 400, which commemorates the 400th year of the sailing of the Mayflower to the New World with 102 Colonists on board. This was forecasted to bring over £40million of tourist money into the City, but like every city in the UK, COVID put an end to these plans.

However, one of the few jobs the department was able to carry out for this event was outputting a 240ft mesh banner for the launch of the Mayflower Autonomous Ship, the world’s first fully robot AI captained maritime craft.

While events and exhibitions in Plymouth have been put on ice, the versatility of the new equipment has allowed the department to produce other work such as safeguarding signage, particularly indoor floor graphics, as well as coloured and vinyl banners – applications that in the past it would have outsourced or not done at all.

The new equipment capabilities are set to have a real impact on the department, and the organisation as a whole.

“This new investment will open up our customer base dramatically, allowing us to work with customers that in the past would have been unobtainable. Alongside this, we can now upsell our other services,” says Aaron.

“It is going to open up new markets to us, and we'll just explore them as we go,” he says.