WrapHub wins work and enjoys greater production confidence

Pantone colour reproduction consistency sealed the deal.

Northampton vehicle wrapping and commercial branding specialist WrapHub, has elevated quality, colour reproduction consistency and expanded its customer base following its investment in an Epson SureColor SC-S80600.

Set up two years ago by Director Dan Smith, the operation delivers a range of branding services including commercial vehicle wrapping, motor sport livery and hi-vis markings.

Keen to develop the business and win new work, he invested in an Epson SureColor SC-S80600. He explains: “We wanted to be confident that we could produce a one off wrap for a company now and deliver a reliable and consistent match in six or 12 months. That is something we could not do with our existing HP CMYK printer.”

He continues: “We are also being asked to replicate brand colours and that was not always achievable. Now we are confident in our ability to reproduce even the most challenging of Pantone colours and match them at a later date.”

Dan chose WrapHub’s 64-inch Epson SureColor SC-S80600 after visiting a number of sign shows. “I could see the results it achieved and it was competitively priced,” he says.

The system features a combined precision media feeding system and high-performance Dual-Array PrecisionCore^® TFP print head, that supports enhanced productivity. Its uses Epson UltraChrome^® GS3 9-color solvent ink – including a red solvent along with the option for white or metallic silver inks – for outstanding photographic print quality, durability, and media compatibility.

Dan says: “I liked it for a number of reasons. First was its speed. Our old system used to take 20 minutes to warm up and if you are running three jobs in a day that is an hour lost. The next is something very little but it makes a big difference to me – the light on the printing panel means I can easily see how the work is looking. Before I would need to stand there with the torch on my phone to check the first few lines to makes sure it was printing well. It is great that I don’t have to do that anymore.”

He adds: “I can also now run work overnight. That is something I would have never done before. I would always stay - even it was 10m – because it was not uncommon to have an inkhead jam. Now I can leave 35m or 40m overnight knowing everything will be fine. That also means we can be more productive.”

The quality possible is helping win new work as Dan states: “We wrapped the new VN5 van for the LEVC (London Electric Vehicle Company) for Annabel’s in Mayfair. They were very happy with the results.”

Dan is also enjoying some immediate cost savings: “Before the new Epson we would have seen 10% to 15% of substrate wastage and time associated with that. It would add up to as much as £200 per roll and that could be as much at £15,000 in a year. As a result, the Epson will easily pay for itself with in a year, both in the savings it is helping us to achieve and the new work we are winning.”

There is another benefit, too: “We no longer have conversations with customers about why the vivid colours in the digital files are not as vibrant on the finished job.”

He concludes: “We can be more imaginative with our creative vision and know the real life application will meet everyone’s expectations.”

Andy McGuiness, Managing Director at Espon reseller SEDO, comments: “The Epson S-Series, and in particular the S80600, has been an instant success with signmakers and print rooms alike since their launch. There’s the obvious 98.2% Pantone Match, 95sqm/hr speed and two year warranty but it’s the many little things that also get picked up by customers too; the lack of manual cleaning required, how quiet it is and the incredibly accurate take up system. Dan was a pleasure to work with and having seen his work since on LinkedIn, I have to say he is extremely talented. A comment from Dan has stuck in my mind ever since I followed up with him after the install, he said ‘the colour and quality is so good that my vinyl rep thought it couldn’t have been printed’. If that’s not praise, I don’t know what is!”