Having seen their sales in dye-sublimation grow substantially over the past few years, Simply Beautiful Print decided to invest in Agfa equipment to satisfy their growing demand in-house. At the end of September 2023, they installed both an Agfa Avinci CX3200 wide-format printer and a Klieverik Calender unit, launching the business into dye-sublimation production and finishing.
It’s been a £300k+ investment for the company, which has included a 2000 sq ft mezzanine floor being built to extend their East Sussex facility to 6500 sq ft. The first floor now houses the stitching and finishing equipment which has made space for the new 3.2m print engine and calendar unit on the ground floor.
Simply Beautiful Print was established by Michael Tyrrell in 2011 following a career in print which started as a graphic designer in a screen-printing business after leaving college. The business is now based at Golden Cross, north of Eastbourne, has 6 full-time staff, and supplies exhibition contractors, advertising agencies and retailers with high-quality graphics, point of sale, and signage.
Michael explains: “I started Simply Beautiful Print from my home office in 2011, outsourcing all the production and we now reside in a facility that houses an Agfa Anapurna H3200i LED UV printer, an Agfa Avinci CX3200 dye-sublimation printer, an HP 800W Latex Printer and a Canon iGAF Printer. To support these engines, we also have a Kongsberg C64 Edge, Klieverik calender, Neschen Coldlam laminator, CWT application table plus a sewing machine with conveyor line.
This growth hasn’t come overnight, and we have worked in a few smaller units over the years, including one we shared with an ambulance for a while. But we have grown steadily and consistently, monitored the market, and outsourced till we had the volume to bring it in-house. We now have a loyal customer base that trusts in us and we have a lot of capacity and are self-contained which is important as it means that we control both the timing and quality for our customers.”
Michael was introduced to Agfa through a ‘Red Carpet Event’ that they held back in 2016. He visited the Agfa Head Quarters site in Mortsel, Belgium and was blown away by the size, scale, support, and quality of machinery.
“It gave me the confidence to invest in the Agfa Anapurna H3200i LED UV 3.2m hybrid machine, which we installed in 2017 and has been a workhorse for us ever since. It is so reliable and the support that we have been given by the knowledgeable Agfa team has been impressive. Whilst I did look at other manufacturers when deciding to invest in dye sublimation, it’s this experience that made Agfa the choice for the new Avinci machine. James Argent at Agfa has been very helpful throughout the process, he also assisted with the deal for the new Klieverik dye-sublimation calender unit as Agfa has a partnership with this brand across Europe. So, the installation of both pieces of equipment has been done together making it a very smooth process. We also took advantage of the Agfa financing, which is a strong support tool and a great deal.”
"Whilst I did look at other manufacturers when deciding to invest in dye sublimation, it’s our experience with our Anapurna inkjet printer from Agfa that made them also the choice for the new Avinci machine. It is so reliable and the support that we have been given by the knowledgeable Agfa team has been impressive. "
The Agfa Avinci CX3200 dye-sublimation roll-to-roll machine reliably prints on a wide range of polyester-based media, creating vibrant colors on fabrics up to 3.2m wide. Perfect for both indoor and outdoor soft signage applications as well as interior decoration, it can print directly to fabrics, as well as onto transfer paper, and uses an offline calender unit to ensure perfect fixation.
Michael is excited that this new investment into the dye-sublimation market will not only satisfy his current requirement for textile and fabric printing in-house but also give him access to new customers and markets to grow his business to the next level. Whilst already a busy printer he is already talking about the extra capacity an evening shift could bring to the business.
