Tel: +44 (0)1977 668986 / Fax: +44 (0)8707 518158 Mobile: +44 (0)7811 137171 e-mail: sales@ddjgraphics.com

Press Releases

29 February 2016 UV or not UV - that is the question A lot has been published recently about the “new” UV technology that is being installed in the UK and around Europe with many commercial printers looking at this as an option to differentiate them from their competitors - whilst at the same time making them more productive, reducing overall production costs and increasing profitability. The larger press manufacturers have all come to market with their various offerings of UV, H-UV and LE-UV with SAKURAI leading the way and working closely with Baldwin in Slough to become the leader in Lithographic LED-UV printing. Before making a decision on a new press with new technology the following needs to be considered The videotape format war – for those of us old enough to remember the late 70’s and early 80’s there was intense competition or "format war" between incompatible models of consumer-level analogue video cassette and video cassette recorders (VCR’s) involving the Betamax and VHS formats. VHS ultimately emerged as the pre-eminent format before technology moved on again (and again………) Buying a new press can be a difficult decision in itself but making the wrong decision on the technology that is to be fitted to it could be very costly in the long term – keeping in mind that until very recently you could still get films on VHS but Betamax has not been available for nearly 30 years. Automation has been fitted to presses since the early 90’s and has evolved and improved over time. This, along with new technology in the prepress department, has reduced make ready times to minutes rather than hours – there is very little room for further improvement in these areas and so the focus has moved from make ready to the speed at which jobs can be backed-up, finished, boxed and invoiced. This change in focus has brought about increased interest in press drying systems as a way to further improve productivity. LED-UV printing is the future. It gives you • Instant Drying • Ability to print on plastic • No anti-set-off spray • Reduced power consumption • A safe environmentally friendly work place • Spot or full UV coating • No dry back Sakurai Graphic Systems have now installed the latest 580SD series press into their showroom in Hounslow – a five colour with coating unit, full automation and Baldwin LED-UV drying. In late March a series of by invitation demonstrations will be held on the press that will allow printers to see this new technology in action and to ask any questions that they may have – we will be in contact with you again shortly to see if we can arrange for you to attend one of these events.