Andy Kent, general manager of Fujifilm Graphic Communications UK
A culture ofinnovation
Headquartered in Bedford, Fujifilm UK is a subsidiary of FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation, Tokyo, Japan and will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2026. Fujifilm itself was founded in 1934 as a producer of photographic film under the name Fuji Photo Film.
“Since then, it has been a story of continuous innovation and expansion into new areas of business using the core technologies that were developed for the production of film,” explains Andy Kent, general manager of Fujifilm Graphic Communications UK.
Fujifilm’s newly-built UK HQ is 30,000sq ft and houses its Medical and Imaging Solutions divisions, as well as Graphic Communications.
In June, Fujifilm opened its Print Experience Centre (PEC) which was created to bring together technologies and products from the company’s Graphic Communications and Photo Imaging divisions.
The PEC is a 1,200sq ft design space located at Fujifilm Europe and Fujifilm Deutschland’s premises in Rattingen, Germany. Representing a real ‘call to action’ for all visitors, the PEC acts as a collaborative space where attendees can imagine and experience the present and future of the printing industry.
Printing systems at the PEC include the Jet Press 750S, Revoria Press PC1120, Revoria E1 Series, ApeosPro C Series, Imprinting systems, and Acuity Prime.
Something For Everyone
For print, Fujifilm UK has a considerable range of products from analogue to digital, wide-format to small-format, inkjet or toner, litho and flexo plates, and a host of screen printing products. “I feel that we could knock on almost any printers’ door and have something to talk about!” Kent says.
I feel that we could knock on almost any printers’ door and have something to talk about!”
For the sign industry, the company offers a popular new range of wide-format printers in the Acuity Prime range of flatbed printers and UV inks, developed and manufactured in the UK which ensures best-in-class quality and reliability.
In addition to the Acuity Prime range, the Acuity Ultra R2 is a highly productive superwide roll-fed printer for 3-5m substrates, and there is also the Acuity Ultra Hybrid LED (5m) and a new smaller version that will be showcased at The Print Show in September.
With the company offering so much, it’s unsurprising to hear the day-to-day running of operations at Fujifilm UK is very busy! Kent explains how the company takes orders and delivers hundreds of product lines every day with a “fabulous” team of people making sure customers receive great local service.
In addition to this, the company is constantly processing, planning, and installing digital equipment orders, as well as servicing and maintaining customers’ equipment via Fujifilm’s experienced engineering team.
With all this in mind, Kent explains that everything the company does is based on one core motivation: contributing to the advancement of society. “Our biggest asset in that mission is our culture of continuous innovation and driving change via new, cleaner sustainable technologies,” he says.
Driving Innovation
Constantly being set challenges by the drive for innovation, this year alone Fujifilm has launched an entirely new digital toner business, new wide-format equipment, and is currently installing Europe’s first Fujifilm inkjet press for flexible packaging – and it’s still only the summer!
This new machine has been installed at Germany-based Fokina and will be used alongside the company’s 5m Acuity Ultra to produce superwide prints.
Fokina invested in an original model Acuity Ultra in February 2020 and used it to print Fujifilm’s stand graphics for a number of events including FESPA last year. The company then went on to purchase the new machine at FESPA 2023.
GPG produced the graphics for Fujifilm’s stand at FESPA 2023 using an Acuity Ultra R2. Image: Daniel Gutendorf, GPG and Ali Meybodi of Fujifilm
The company will use the new Acuity Ultra Hybrid LED to boost its productivity and working alongside the Acuity Ultra will bring an even greater level of flexibility, printing on substrates such as Forex, PVC, Dibond, self-adhesives, banners, and mesh.
Fujifilm partnered with German printing business GPG Digitaldruck to produce the eye-catching graphics for the 2023 edition of FESPA. GPG also used the Acuity Ultra R2 due to its speed and versatility. These graphics were designed to showcase Fujifilm’s Blueprint Live concept which was first launched at FESPA 2022 and celebrates Fujifilm’s all-new Acuity range of wide-format printers, developed in-house from the ground up.
Confidence In Customers
Back in May, UK-based partner of Fujifilm, Soyang hosted an Open House event to showcase the capabilities of the superwide Acuity Ultra R2 roll-fed printer to customers in its showroom. Soyang initially partnered with Fujifilm in mid-2022 to become a distributor of the Acuity Ultra R2 in the UK.
The well-attended event took place in Soyang’s new purpose-built Acuity Ultra R2 showroom at its 70,000sq ft head office and distribution centre in Accrington, Lancashire.
Another company that has invested in Fujifilm technology for another area of the industry is Paragon Germany. The company purchased a pair of one-metre-wide Fujifilm imprinting bars to print to the front and the reverse of the web for its direct mail production line.
Describing its decision to invest in Fujifilm technology over other systems, Paragon operations director for Direct Mail Bernd Wein said the company liked that Fujifilm fully owns all the technologies including the printheads.
This, he said, gave Paragon confidence to be dealing with one partner which it believed could offer the service and support needed to ensure ongoing smooth operation and the swift resolution to any problems.
“It’s also proven technology,” Wein adds. “Fujifilm has a long heritage in inkjet and its imprinting solutions are tried and tested. It's a strong and respected manufacturer and a financially robust and stable company that we know we can depend on over the long term.”
In 2022, Fujifilm acquired Unigraphica and this was also a factor in Paragon’s decision with the combination of Fujifilm and Unigraphica's inkjet systems integration expertise seen as an attractive proposition.
A UK-First
Back to the UK and Emmerson Press became the first UK investor in Fujifilm’s ApeosPro C toner press. Kenilworth-based Emmerson Press has been a Fujifilm plates customer for almost 20 years and in 2016 became the first printer in the UK to invest in the Jet Press 720S, later upgrading to the Jet Press 750 in 2019. Now, the company has become the first in the UK to purchase the newly launched ApeosPro C810 toner press.
The deal was formerly agreed at a Fujifilm event in London’s docklands in May to celebrate the launch of the manufacturer’s toner technologies in the UK.
A company that has been operating for nine decades is bound to come across some stumbling blocks or challenges along the way. Historically, Kent says Fujifilm’s biggest challenge came when the market for photographic film plummeted almost overnight around the turn of the 21st century. However, the company’s success in rapidly diversifying into multiple other sectors, including the print industry, has since become the subject of books, articles, and academic theses.
From a local perspective, Kent says the constant change is the most challenging aspect, but also very exciting! Something that was a challenge for all businesses and another cause of business changing overnight was Covid-19 and Kent says he is very proud of the way Fujifilm UK has emerged from this period.
“The investment in R&D never stopped and we are reaping the rewards now,” he says, adding: “I am also proud of our staff who manage to stay so passionate and focused on our customers amid the constant change around them.”
Looking forward and Fujifilm UK plans to continue to innovate and support businesses across the industry, especially in the area of digital transformation. “That is our mission and I don’t think that will ever change,” Kent concludes.
Statistics
- 75,000 - staff at Fujifilm globally
- 51 – staff at Graphic Communicationsin the UK
- 30,000sq ft – size of Fujifilm UK HQ
- £40m – Graphic Communications UK turnover
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