Action Signs invests in new digital machines

Christchurch signage company Action Signs has invested over $600,000 in two new digital machines it says will increase productivity, application versatility and will open up technical and industrial applications.

“It is a substantial investment that reflects our commitment to Christchurch,” Action Signs Managing Director Bill McKnight said.

“Both machines are at forefront of innovation and design and the Océ Arizona Flatbed printer is the first of this model in New Zealand. It is three times faster than our previous smaller print machines, is eco-friendly printer and prints white ink meaning no longer do we have to print everything on a white base material.”

McKnight said the new Canadian machine would deliver even better near-photographic image quality for almost any application from paper thin materials through to material up to 50mm thick.

“It’s amazing what it can do. We can print onto really thin material or thick textured surfaces with a fantastic end result we are very happy with.”

McKnight said the size of the printing bed now had Action Signs a “step ahead of the competition,” with the extra large size enabling printing of oversized sheets and objects. The Océ Arizona 360 XT model features an extra large table size of 2.5 meters by 3.05 meters.

The second machine purchased, a G3 digital cutter from Swiss global market leader Zünd, automated all cutting and trimming functions eliminating the bottlenecks in the finishing department of Action Signs and was the first this model in Christchurch.

“Manually cutting takes longer and there is always the potential for mistakes. The new G3 digital cutter reduces mistakes to an absolute minimum, can work 24 hours a day, is much faster and will be a real boost to our productivity,” McKnight said.

“It is capable of cutting a high range of materials, from paper, vinyl’s, foams, plastics, PVC, aluminium and timber up to 50mm thick.”

McKnight stressed that even with challenging times in Christchurch Action Signs was focused on business growth and being in the best possible position to support the rebuild of the city.