In the manner of a number of success stories, it started in the pub! Yes, the brain storming session that led to the name Pink Panther Digital was all about coming up with a name that a) wouldn’t be easily forgotten and b) had a touch of fun about it.

It was four years ago this coming September that Pink Panther Digital was set up in Caerphilly, Wales.  Established by four directors with experience in litho, they recognised a definite gap in the market, especially in the Cardiff area,  for digital print, and purchased a Kodak NexPress to offer a whole variety of digitally printed products from business cards all the way through to personalised brochures and promotional materials. As a complimentary service to this, the company also purchased an Epson 10000 CF, aqueous-based, large format digital printer for interior graphics work.

When the company started out, its narrow format NexPress work accounted for 95% of activity. But times have changed. Now, the company’s output activity is 50/50.

 “It’s been quite a surprise, “ says Managing Director Jon Stephens.  “When we started we really believed that the narrow format side of things would be the growth area and the large format, short-run side of things was just an adjunct really. However, we have watched this side of the business grow. After we purchased the Epson 10000 CF, we then installed a Seiko IP 45000 Exterior Plotter followed by a 60-inch wide HP DesignJet 5500 allowing us to produce 8ft by 4ft boards on one pass. There is no doubt that we see our future in short-run, large-format work.”

With this growing realisation, the company purchased a Roland SolJet Pro II V 645 EX, dedicated eco-solvent printer that was installed three months ago.

“We wanted the extra width capacity and we also wanted to be able to manufacture PVC banners which until we purchased the machine we had been unable to produce.

“We researched the market place thoroughly before deciding to purchase” says Jon.  “We visited Roland DG UK’s HQ in Clevedon in Bristol and had an excellent demo. We were able to really test the machine. In fact we took files from a live job and output those. The quality and speed were excellent.”

 “We were fairly nervous about moving into the whole solvent arena, but as soon as we were able to look at the Roland eco-solvent solution and see first hand how easy and straight-forward it is to maintain, we decided to buy the machine which we believe has really taken us on to the next level.

“We’re a one-stop shop company and we never turn work down, with the new Roland we are now able to output flags, mesh, banners – you name it. In fact our turnover has increased by 15% already because of this system.”

The 645 EX at Pink Panther Digital utilises Roland’s new Eco-Sol MAX inks in the larger sized 440ml cartridges designed for unattended printing and the company has also purchased an optional take-up unit.

“So far,” says Jon, “everything is running well. The Eco-Sol MAX inks are doing everything that Roland said they would. The colours are excellent and very vibrant and they have a guarantee of three years outdoor life expectancy without lamination.

“Before we had the SolJet 645 EX we were mainly printing on to paper, then mounting on to board and laminating. We’re finding with the machine that we can cut out some of the processes and we tend to print direct on to self-adhesive vinyl and then mount it. We’re saving time and there are positive cost benefits as well.”

Already approximately 50% of work from Pink Panther Digital’s other wide format machines has migrated over to the Roland SolJet, with the other 50% being handled on the Epson and HP printers for roller banners and other high quality work.

Pink Panther Digital works for a number of blue chip clients, is able to produce any type of digital print output in-house and has its own comprehensive finishing department for both small and large format requirements.

In fact, Pink Panther has already decided to buy a second smaller Roland machine based on the productivity, versatility and quality of the SolJet 645 EX.