Electronics For Imaging, Inc. (Nasdaq:EFII) today reported that Sandton, South Africa-based Beith Digital has established a full soft signage offering for its customers and raised the bar for image quality and productivitywith its EFI™ VUTEk® FabriVU® 340 printer.
Despite already holding a market-leading position in display graphics, for some time now Beith Digital has seen its existing customer base increasingly in need of soft signage products. It was one type of printing the company couldn't fully handle, until now. Previously, when a client needed soft signage, the company used an EFI VUTEk LED inkjet printer to print directly onto coated fabric, but that process had some limitations in terms of the types of fabrics Beith Digital could use.
With the 3.4m-wide VUTEk FabriVU printer, Beith Digital now can print on four-way stretch polyester knit fabric, carpet, and other more "traditional" soft signage materials to produce products such as Texflex and sharkfin banners, telescopics, gazebos, event bins, banner walls, A-frames, cubes and stage backdrops.
Speed thrills: VUTEk FabriVU 340 is 'as reliable as it is fast'
"We knew the deadlines for soft signage were just as challenging as with traditional large-format jobs, so we wanted a machine that could perform as fast as our roll-to-roll VUTEk LED machines," said Beith Digital Managing Director Devyn Wagner.
It was because of the positive experience Beith Digital had with its existing EFI printers that Wagner didn't hesitate a moment and went for the VUTEk FabriVU. "EFI's machines are robust and deliver consistently high quality throughout a run, and we knew the FabriVU was going to be as reliable as it is fast," he explained.
The printer's positive impact on the Beith Digital's business has been immediate. "We have already penetrated the soft signage market as well as the promotional items, flags and gazebos market, and we are seeing some good growth. We were getting 70% of our soft signage business from existing clients, but now we are getting up to 90%," said Wagner. "We expect to grow even further, for sure."
With more than 50 years of experience, Beith Digital is recognised as an industry leader in large format digital printing. The company has the digital capabilities to print direct to virtually any type of rigid or roll-fed substrate, from paper to glass and fabric. In November 2004, Techni Ad Digital purchased Beith Digital (Pty) Ltd. in its entirety through K.D. Holdings. The two digital print departments were subsequently joined to become one of the largest digital print facilities in Africa.
