84 email: news@printmonthly.co.uk May / June 2024 - Issue 348 DIRECT-TO-OBJECT PRINTING wave of popularity in the promotional goods space at present,” Makrinos says, adding: “However, as with all opportunities in the print industry, the work that printers should be targeting will vary from business to business. “It comes down to where you can add value, what areas they’re already skilled in, what their existing offerings are, who their customers are, and what they’re looking to achieve. The sweet spot often lies where you can complement your existing successful offering with new applications that increase margins earned from existing customers or enable you to bring in new ones.” Speed and Flexibility Offering an example, one of Inkcups’ customers is a B2C producer of personalised gifts that uses its Helix machines to print onto glassware and reusable drinkware. The client spotted an opportunity to take this further with personalised bottles and other items, and with help from Inkcups technology, has been able to capitalise on this observation and has since established a trade-focused arm serving businesses such as craft distilleries and boutique cosmetics manufacturers. Expanding on this technology, the Helix digital cylinder printer is Inkcups’ flagship machine that remains popular with customers. The model offers a number of design techniques that Makrinos says companies love to take advantage of including lustre, mirror print, tone on tone, and embossed, with these features taking a standard CMYK image and turning each vessel into their “own work of art”. “Our customers love the speed and flexibility of the technology, with its ability to print onto such a wide range of straightwalled and tapered cylindrical objects making it ideal for use in the drinkware, barware, candle, and industrial printing industries,” Makrinos says, adding: “On top of its versatile capabilities, the simple and fast setup times and tooling changeovers, ease-of-use for production and maintenance, and space efficiency on the shop floor explain why many of our customers opt to add many more Helix printers as their direct-to-object printing work takes off.” Also from Inkcups is the Helix ONE benchtop digital cylinder printer, which, launched last year, allows printers to add cylindrical DTO capabilities to their business. It has all the power and productivity of our Helix cylindrical printing technology, but a more compact benchtop design, meaning it can be added to a portfolio without needing to find additional floorspace. Another new Inkcups machine is the XJET Switch, a UV flatbed printing machine designed with bag decoration in mind. Makrinos says with growing consumer concerns about sustainability, reusable bags have become enormously popular in recent years and present an excellent promotional opportunity for brands. “ This is why we developed a machine capable of printing high-quality, full-colour images onto a wide variety of bags, be that polyester, PVC, non-wovens, cotton, and more,” Makrinos says. “Paired with the flexible XFLEXX UV Ink Series, the XJET Switch eliminates the risk of the printed image cracking or distorting as the bag is used over time, ensuring the longevity of its impact. As the first machine of its kind, the XJET Switch provides numerous benefits over traditional printing methods including adhesion capabilities, speed, and best of all, the removal of a drying process.” Clearly, there are plenty of opportunities for PSPs when it comes to DTO print. Armed with the right sort of kit and new technology, some of which were showcased at FESPA 2024 in Amsterdam, print businesses can go in search of new work, customers, and markets. By using UV LED technology when printing direct-to-object, the variety of substrates you can print on is expanded to even typically difficult-toprint-on materials ▲ The Helix ONE utilises the patented Helix technology by Inkcups but in a more compact benchtop design
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