How Flatbed UV Print Enhances Productivity

You don't need to be a master's in economics to understand that if you sell more, you can make more money. With easier access to online selling platforms and a diverse customer base, finding business is easier than ever.

Inevitably, many printing professionals will come to a point where they need to use additional equipment to increase their printing capacity. Do you invest in more of the same, move to something more industrial, or change the approach entirely? Making this decision is difficult; choosing the wrong investment can have serious consequences for the growth of a business.

Since a day cannot last more than 24 hours, investing in more efficient production methods is critical. Let's take a look at one of the most popular wide format printing products and examine the production method for a common application, printing on display boards.

Pictured: Roll-to-roll output with lamination applied to a print.

Roll to Roll Printed Rigid Board
Roll-to-roll wide-format printers are the first choice for most small and medium-sized printing companies. Producing rigid panels for building site hoardings or event spaces is a three-step process:

1. Print on self-adhesive media
Once the media is loaded and the device is configured, the printing process can be fairly quick with the right device - especially if you're not printing in high quality mode. After your printout, you may need to wait for it to be ready to apply, depending on the ink you are using.

2. Laminate output
For outdoor work, permanent fixtures or floor graphics, it is recommended to cover the print with a protective laminate film. To do this effectively on larger pieces, you'll need a special laminating table that includes a full-width heated roller. Bubbles and creases aren't inevitable even with this method, but it's more reliable than trying to laminate large sheets any other way.

3. Application to the Board of Directors
Now that the media is laminated, the next step is to apply it to the rigid board. Again, the rollers on the application table make this easier and less prone to costly accidents.

Using this method, one or two skilled operators can produce about 3-4 boards per hour. Ultimately, your business can only increase production by increasing the amount of equipment and hiring more operators, which means investing in a larger premises and higher overhead

Pictured: Printing directly to a board with a flatbed UV printer.

How Flatbed UV Makes Board Printing Faster

The UV flatbed printing process is easier to describe because it’s much shorter. First, you place a board on the bed, then you hit “print” on your RIP, and after a few minutes, you remove the finished board and repeat the process as many times as you need to.

With this method, you can produce up to 4 times as many boards, extending even further by using lower quality print modes. This massive increase in productivity leaves your operators free to take care of other responsibilities whilst the printer completes each job. Not only does this boost your production of rigid boards, but you also have more flexibility to explore other opportunities to increase your bottom line.

This means that you don’t need to replace your existing roll-to-roll print devices – you can continue using them to produce additional products which enhance your service offering. Check out our article on generating profit with a printer/cutter to get some more ideas.

The fact that flatbed UV devices print faster is only one way accelerate the workflow. Vacuum bed technology holds the media firmly in place with the touch of a button, speeding up the set-up process and reducing errors. Positioning pins and on-bed guides help with quick alignment. The ink technology itself means that the ink is cured instantly with low-temperature lamps which don’t discolour the media like other direct-printing technologies.

Once you’ve made those gains in production speed, there’s no telling how far you can take your business. If you want some ideas to help you fill your time with business development activities, we have put a quick guide together here, or if you want to talk to an expert about flatbed UV printing, complete the form below, and we’ll be in touch.

Future-Proof Your Business

Click here to find out more about our IU-1000F UV-LED High-Productivity Flatbed Printer and the benefits it could provide to your business.