Foto Flash’s transformational phase sees investment in Duplo DDC-810 digital coater

The company, founded by Santosh Kumar, in its 25-year-old journey, has invested in digital production presses, latest being the two Konica Minolta Accurio Press C73hc, as well as traditional silver halide technology-based Noritsu 3901 dry lab machines, three in all, to keep its photo business going.

In June 2019, the company moved into a transformational phase, when it ventured into commercial printing, setting up Ambica Print Shop. Foto Flash already had four units across Chennai. It added three more units in the city, equipping it with one Canon Imagepress each, which included the C10000, C850 and C910.

For its photo albums, Foto Flash used a small flatbed machine to do spot UV. “It met our requirement. But, when we decided to venture into commercial printing, we wanted to be more prepared to meet the requirements of the market,” said company’s director and son of Santosh, Ranjit Kumar.

That’s when TechNova’s advice came in handy. Ekta Mhatre, manager product marketing, at TechNova, said, “Ambica units were planned as short-run print centres, and it was necessary to ensure that it had to be in a position to offer as quick a turnaround as possible, particularly when offering post-print solutions like spot UV, foiling or die-cut. Duplo's unique inkjet head and patented registration mechanism ensure highest resolution (600x600) and less than one minute job switch time.” The company hence decided to invest in the Duplo DDC-810 digital spot UV coater. It also added a Ucos DC-X dry coater for foiling and a JWEI LS series digital cutting table, all three supplied by TechNova.

The Duplo DDC-810 is a compact embellishment inkjet used to print clear UV spot varnish with the option of raised and textured finishes that resemble embossing. It can take sheets up to long B3 format (364x740mm) and register the spot coating to pre-printed images. 

“The machine has a standstill head, which increases perfection. Normally, an inkjet head moves, which is not the case with this machine. It increases the performance and nozzle blockages are less,” said Kumar.

While there are other bigger and higher-priced equipments, the DDC-810 was a perfect fit for Ambica, said Kumar. “It’s small and compact. It uses less energy in comparison of the more expensive behemoths, and let’s say we have 1,000 sheets of various jobs, the DDC-810 can do it in a much quicker time, because of the fast set-up time.”

The other advantage is the DDC-810’s ability to perform offline gold foiling. “There are no registration issues. And if there are, it can be quickly set. More importantly, we reduce wastages,” explained Kumar.

In the last seven months, Ambica’s three centres have been gradually increasing its print volumes, and today produces around 75,000 copies per month. “For now, we are running the Duplo at 20% of its potential. But that’s not an issue. We know we have the ability to offer spot UV and foiling services. It’s given us an edge to compete. We tell our customers who have embellishing requirements, we can offer what they want, without going elsewhere,” concluded Kumar.