CAM Table Enables Wide Format Graphics Growth

Graf in Hatfield has installed an Esko Kongsberg i-XL44 table and MGE I-cut vision system to complete its initial plant investment.

Graf in Hatfield has installed an Esko Kongsberg i-XL44 table and MGE I-cut vision system to complete its initial plant investment.

The equipment was acquired by Graf to implement a global service of wide-format graphics to companies such as Disney, Puma, and GAP, including work for the recent World Cup campaign in Germany.

Mill Pond Graphics, Esko's sole independent distributor for the Kongsberg i-XL series in the UK, managed the acquisition.

The new company began trading on March 1 this year and has seen immediate interest and demand for its graphics, said Esko.

Graf managing director, Gary Carr, said: "The beauty of this exciting venture is that we were able to cherry pick the latest machines that we knew would make the difference.

I have worked with Esko technology in the past and appreciate its value and reliability.

Esko offers excellent support and provides an extremely dedicated installation team." Gary Carr has been very impressed with the Esko Kongsberg i-XL44 table's ability to handle runs of up to 150 large size units within tight lead times.

He added: "In my opinion, the Kongsberg i-XL44 CAM table is the best you can buy.

It saves us time waiting for a die cut and provides us with maximum levels of productivity and outstanding precision with its excellent tooling flexibility." Puma is one of Graf's high-profile clients.

Graf produces the company's worldwide branding elements for its' changing rooms.

A technical diagram is created that sets the changing room shelving, hooks and mirrors in to a default pattern.

Using Esko ArtiosCAD software, Puma's graphics are designed, shaped and cut to conform to the desired pattern.

The vinyl graphics are finished on the i-XL44 Kongsberg at Graf in Hatfield and then shipped all over the world where they are installed in Puma stores by a selected team of installers.

The graphics transform the environment within the changing rooms and attract the public's attention.

The potential themes include from bike sheds to saunas and Graf said it can produce any interior depending on the client's promotional objectives.

Working for customers such as the GAP, the graphics need to be spot on.

For example, the Gap's London, Oxford Street store represents a vital window display advertising opportunity.

"GAP sends us the files print-ready and we create the cutting guides in Adobe Illustrator.

Because Esko's ArtiosCAD software supports an open architecture, the Kongsberg i-XL can accurately read the file.

It is the finishing that counts and this is where the Esko machine meets the challenge.

The Kongsberg i-XL44 cutting table gives us the perfect finished product," said Carr.

Graf is still in its' early days as a company but volumes are already high and Gary Carr anticipates a profit in the first year: "We are working with high profile clients who demand delivery on time and to a very high standard of workmanship.

Esko's Kongsberg i-XL table is a productivity machine and without it we could not accomplish what we are doing," concluded Carr.

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