Three years after installing an Inca Onset S20i flatbed UV inkjet printer, Lokeren-based 3Motion replaced it with a new Inca Onset X2. With a print - speed of 650 m²/hour, it is three times faster than the previous printer at even higher image quality. Highly necessary, as it turned out because the company's continued expansion meant that even working around the clock was no longer enough to get orders out the door on time.


3Motion is establishing itself fully as a creative print partner for companies. Not only printing, but equally the conception, design and installation are done in-house, which allows them to be very flexible and short on time. With these added values, the company clearly differentiates itself from other providers in the large format printing market. A vision that has not harmed 3Motion, as the company grows year on year.


Extra breathing space

When 3Motion installed the Inca Onset S20i three years back, they still had their doubts about whether they would be able to feed this speed monster sufficiently. Those fears seemed unfounded, as it soon became clear that one shift was not enough to get orders out the door on time. That quickly became two shifts, and today, the company runs almost round the clock to process everything in a timely manner. Managing director Wouter Mouton adds: ""But even with those extra hours, we were at the ceiling. There is no room for a second printer at the current location, so we chose to trade in the existing machine for the three times faster Inca Onset X2. Thanks to that higher speed of 650 sq m/h, we now have some breathing room again. Next year, we will move to a new and bigger building in the industrial zone in Zele and there will be plenty of room for growth as well as machines.""


Automaton and printer better matched

The three-quarter automatic that was already installed with the previous machine remained. About this, co-manager Gerd Mouton says the following: ""Because we now print a lot faster, the machine is performing even better than before. Our staff lay the substrate ready on the inlay, after which the printer automatically picks it up, prints it and transports it to the deposit pallet. The bottleneck was not in the vending machine but in the printer, because even with that faster print speed, enough time remains to feed and unload the material. It seems like the printer and the machine are now much better matched."" On top of that, switching between different jobs and materials is even faster than before. Wouter Mouton: ""For us, that short setup time is hugely important, because every day we process a range of different materials. This ranges from 3mm Forex panels, to sticker sheets and corrugated cardboard. You name it, we print it. Every little bit helps, and certainly setup time, to have more jobs processed at the end of the day.""


Also the 'small' print easy to read

The new Inca Onset X2 also has other assets besides just higher speed. Gerd Mouton explains: ""The machine's print quality is now even better than before. You see that difference, especially with small text. This was also a must for us, because we are increasingly printing packaging and displays in both small and large runs, and on these the small print must also be easily legible. Another interesting feature is the ability to add a spot-varnish look to a print. This finishing offers - especially in packaging - a nice added value to make the product stand out even more."" With the installation of the new Inca Onset X2, 3Motion has once again opted for the robustness of Inca printers. Co-business owner Femke Helon concludes: ""When making our choice, we also looked at other suppliers, but in the end Fujifilm had the best solution for our applications with the Inca Onset X2. Couple that with the fact that we already had three years of experience with the previous machine and it has more than proved its reliability.