U.K.-based Fingerprint FO+ launches VersaUV LEC-540 desktop-based application to create packaging prototypes, short-run applications to generate range of commercial print, packaging and label mock-ups

Kathryn Mackenzie

HERTFORDSHIRE, England , June 13, 2012 (press release) – Innovative print and packaging specialist, Fingerprint FO+, wanted a proofing, prototyping and short-run production solution that could match its versatile offset technology, and found it in Roland’s multi-talented VersaUV LEC-540.

Using its new Roland UV-curable wide-format print-and-cut solution, the Welwyn Garden City-based company can now create accurate packaging prototypes and short-run applications straight from its desktop computers onto exactly the same challenging and diverse range of media it puts through its two Heidelberg Speedmasters.

Constantly working with new materials to push the boundaries of what is possible in high-end packaging is a pillar of Fingerprint FO+’s innovative culture. The company regularly prints on a broad range of substrates from polypropylene, PVCs, foils and boards to more specialist substrates like Mirri reflective media It also produces applications using clings and lenticular effects. As such, it’s critical that Fingerprint FO+ is able to produce cost-effective proofs and prototypes on-demand, as well as short runs and specials, using the actual materials used for the main print run.

In this respect the Roland VersaUV LEC-540, provided by Atech, a Roland Authorised Dealer, was the natural choice. It ticked every box on Fingerprint FO+’s criteria for generating mock-ups and experimenting with different materials. The highly flexible integrated print and cut machine, with its maximum width of 1370mm, high quality UV-curable ink with additional white and clear options, has eliminated costly wet proofing and makes it a simple job to create concepts for customers and designers.

“Since we’ve taken ownership of the machine, we’ve gone far beyond just proofing and increasingly use it to trial new materials. Previously we were working with an aqueous-based wide-format unit for proofing but, whilst it could produce accurate colour, it didn’t offer the high levels of flexibility we get from this UV-curable system,” explained Doug McBride, Sales Director at Fingerprint FO+.

“The VersaUV LEC-540 integrated seamlessly with our existing abilities to output to a comprehensive range of plastics, corrugated and carton board. But now we have the freedom to explore new materials, textures, contours and finishes.”

The Roland VersaUV LEC-540 is unique in the way it combines printing and cutting in a single unit for packaging and point-of-sale work and mock-ups. The print and cut functionality has allowed Fingerprint FO+ to operate at the boundaries of creativity and technology when it comes to complex and eye catching packaging concepts.

“For a company that specialises in producing innovative packaging and point-of-sale applications, the Roland VersaUV LEC-540 can open new doors to even greater creativity in the future. At Fingerprint FO+, it’s quickly proved to be the ideal solution for prototyping and experimenting with new materials and finishes,” comments Steve Chappell, Roland DG’s Business Manager – Proofing, Packaging and Industrial Labelling. “Additionally, this integrated print-and-cut system with its durable, flexible UV-curable inks is the only machine of its kind which can produce design concepts and short-run applications in a single unit. This technology is proving to be increasingly successful amongst the commercial print and packaging sectors.”

Roland’s VersaUV LEC print-and-cut series is becoming increasingly attractive to companies in the commercial print, packaging and label sectors that want an efficient, colour-accurate proofing system. Its compact footprint is complemented by the fact it only needs a standard 13 amp power supply, thus making it a very cost-effective unit both in purchase and usage terms.

Available in two sizes of 762mm and 1370mm which both fit perfectly into a typical B1 (720 x 1020mm) workflow, the Roland VersaUV LEC-540 chosen by Fingerprint FO+ is the larger option. It incorporates low energy LED-curing with long-life lamps that are able to work with a broad of range of traditionally tricky and sensitive materials without damaging the surface or buckling the media.

Fingerprint FO+ is a member of the BPIF which it uses as a benchmark to measure performance and techniques for its best practice principles. The company’s policy is always to invest in new technologies which produce the highest quality results across a range of materials including specialist substrates, and the Roland VersaUV LEC-540 has met and exceeded their expectations.

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