Jet Tech opens new innovation centre for Northern and Scottish market

Print-on-demand distributor, Jet Technology Group (Jet Tech), launched its newly opened demonstration centre in Warrington yesterday (June 3^rd) with an open day presenting a range of digital equipment.

The new centre in Birchwood Technology Park, which will be open year-round, is designed to provide access to live demonstrations and hands-on training, with a number of further events scheduled in the coming months.

Speaking exclusively to Print Monthly about the reasoning behind opening the new showroom, Steve Andrew, managing director of Jet Tech, says: “Sadly most of the OEMs in this area have closed their innovation centres since the pandemic.

“Therefore, for anyone that’s looking at digital printing, packaging, new innovation, or new technology, people are having to go a lot further afield. Now for the Midlands upwards to Scotland, we’re looking to provide the graphics markets with a lot of new products, innovation, and experience that they can see first-hand.”

The first open day at the centre focused on a range of solutions from Fujifilm and Morgana designed for short-run packaging, alongside print applications to help graphics companies offer a wider portfolio of products.

Among the equipment on show was the Fujifilm Revoria SC285S, a recently released modular offering which provides a new speciality toner station in addition to CMYK, allowing for five-colour printing in one pass.

The additional channel is designed to provide an extended colour gamut and a number of speciality print applications, which was demonstrated on the day with samples reflecting the vibrancy of pinks, oranges, and whites possible on the press.

Another modular press, the Revoria EC1100, was also on show, set up with a high-capacity feeder, a banner tray that allows for prints of up to 1.3m in length, and a booklet maker option. The mid-production press was powered by a Fiery EC11 front-end server.

Software solutions provider, XMPie, was also on hand to demonstrate its variable data integrations with the Fujifilm presses, which included a plug-in option to integrate with Adobe InDesign.

Attending the event was Gary Leonard-Pepin, operations director at GB Mail, who recently purchased an EC1100 from Jet Tech after seeing demonstrations of its capabilities.

Speaking to Print Monthly at the event, Leonard Pepin said: “Our initial reasoning for the purchase was focusing on our existing clients within the direct mail field, but we’re always looking at what else we can offer and this press will allow us to really expand our possibilities.

“I also used the day to look at the XMPie integration. I really liked that it integrates with InDesign and the amount of control you have over the artwork, and I think technology like this can open the door to new options that we can bring to our clients.”

Alongside the Fujifilm presses was a range of finishing solutions from Morgana designed with automation and ease of use in mind.

Morgana solutions on show included the ColorCut SC7000 Pro-T, a cutter/creaser which combines flatbed, sheet-fed, tangential, and contour cutting technologies into a single unit. The machine has been developed to allow for completely unattended cutting production, combining QR code and job library integration with ‘SmartMark’ registration designed for higher cut accuracy.

Reflecting on the open day, Andrew adds: “It’s so lovely to see so many customers here today, both existing customers and new ones that are looking to drive innovative products through their own business.

“I think for most of those attending, knowledge is key. Their day-to-day challenges are mostly about dealing with their own customers and getting their work through. So for them, a day like this is about taking a step back and taking time out to come and look at what’s new in the market and what they can adapt into their existing work.”