provided by: 
Last April, Inca Digital Printers made headlines with the launch of the Inca Onset, said to offer a breakthrough in wide-format UV digital flatbed printing. SP Group, the UK's leading POS and retail solutions print service provider and part of St Ives plc, was the first beta test site for the new Onset and has recently completed the first four months of testing with rave results.
The beta machine, supplied by Inca distributor Fujifilm Sericol, was installed at the company's Redditch, UK, site in June with production starting in August. According to SP Group managing director, Mark Clews, "SP Group now has a major leg up on the competition with the installation of this new printer from Inca."
SP Group, which now includes digital wide-format specialists Service Graphics, has 1200 employees based at thirteen sites across the UK. It serves a large list of blue chip clients, with both wide-format printing and offset work handled from its Redditch facility.
When asked what led to the purchase, Clews said it was a no-brainer. "SP Group has a philosophy of investing in market-leading technology, in order to exceed customer expectations of quality, service, and delivery, and this has included several investments in Inca digital printing equipment in the past. We already have two Inca Columbia Turbos and two Inca Spyder presses in house and wanted to move with the times and the technology, and the most logical choice was to go with the new Onset," said Clews.
He continued, "the Onset takes digital flatbed inkjet printing to the next level. The Inca Onset offers improved print quality with variable gloss levels at extraordinary speeds, and a wider color gamut. Featuring built-in automated feeding and stacking, the Onset is capable of around 5,400 square feet per hour, or 100+ full bed sheets. The printer's speed and quality are delivered by a vast array of 576 Spectra printheads."
He said that the installation went pretty smoothly for such a large piece of equipment. "Our production department is 110,000 square feet so we have the room to easily house it. We installed the Onset in late June and it was up a running in early August. It's a huge piece of equipment that has to be assembled in sections. Its not a drop in, plug in and play piece of equipment," he laughed. "However, comparing the install of the Inca Onset to one of our offset presses, it was a piece of cake."
Clews has been very happy with the unit's speed and quality. "Speed and quality were the big selling points for us. The Onset has a great print speed with excellent print quality. We also like the fact that it has a matte and gloss setting which allows us to adjust the lustre of the finish so it can match a client's campaign for all their printed materials. Having the Onset has also allowed us to take advantage of new business opportunities, particularly in the screen printing arena. It provides a highly competitive alternative to offset presses, offering a flexible and cost effective alternative for up to 400 finished sheets."
Clews said that the Onset is easy to operate by one operator with a minimal 20 minute set up time at the start of each day. He added that another ideal feature is the autofeeder. "It really automates our workflow. So far the printer is running non-stop, three shifts, seven days a week."
author: BY BILL SCHIFFNER