In a world first, South African swissQprint distributor, Adrian Wolman Trading, has sold and installed three swissQprint printers, including two Nyala 2’s and one Impala 2, in one week. This follows a successful exhibit of the machines at the FESPA Africa and Sign Africa Expo, which took place from 22-24 July. One machine was installed at a Johannesburg-based company and two in Cape Town.
The Nyala 2 stands at the nexus of printing quality and productivity: with a top speed of 206sqm/h, a print image goes onto the substrate in just a fraction of the time taken by other printers. The 3,2m x 2m printer fits perfectly with high-volume, high-end environments in both advertising signage and industrial applications.
Nyala 2 upsets a printing rule of thumb, which says that higher speed means lower quality. It achieves this because, although the UV system performs at up to 206sqm/h, it has no such thing as a draft mode. The secret lies in the latest technology used by the print heads. Moreover, a large printing area does not necessarily mean a large machine: Nyala 2 has practically the same dimensions as its Nyala sibling, yet the printing table has increased in size by 25%, thanks to clever Swiss engineering in the background.
The Impala 2 is an especially good illustration of the modular design principles of swissQprint products. At heart, it is a robust flatbed printer with a 2.5 x 2 metre printing table. There are two print head variants to choose from, both deployable either singly or doubled up for twice the performance: 180sqm per hour is the maximum.
An Impala 2 extended with the board option for outsize formats can handle media up to 2.5 x 4 metres, twice as long as the printing table measures from front to back. The Impala 2 also masters continuous printing with the roll to roll option. It scores for printing non-rigid media with a vacuum that tames wrinkles in the material and that is available in two strength variants. While feeding, the vacuum briefly releases to give minimal friction. This makes the Impala 2 able to process roll jobs all by itself.