News and Events

August 2007 - Colourgen Press Release

MARITIME PROGRESS SELECTS COLORSPAN UV FLATBED FOR
PHOTOLUMINESCENT SAFETY SIGNAGE

Colourgen has announced that reseller, Print Technologies, has delivered a ColorSpan 5460uv uv-curable flatbed printer to Maritime Progress. The printer was selected after rigorous testing to ensure it could provide high quality printing onto Maritime’s range of photoluminescent rigid signage for use as safety displays on cruise and commercial ships. The printer has also been selected to provide a range of rigid signage for Warnstar Signage Ltd, a sister company providing safety signage for land based industrial, commercial and offices areas.

Maritime Progress was founded in 1985 and was initially part of a joint venture involving The College of Maritime Studies in Warsash, Southampton. The Company’s inception coincided with the early use of photoluminescent sign material in the marine industry and as a consequence Maritime Progress has unrivalled experience in this very specialised field. Within the first few years the Company gained an excellent reputation for knowledge of marine safety legislation that resulted in the introduction of the range of safety awareness and training posters, which now number over 40 titles, with additional titles being added on a regular basis.

Until recently, Maritime and Warnstar produced most of its signage using screen printing, with some digital printing provided by a large format solvent printer. However, as Yvonne Aldridge, Operation Manager for both companies, explains,  “The majority of signage is still fairly standard and can be produced cost-effectively using screen printing. However, we are now finding that individual ships and companies are demanding more specialist signage and posters and are buying these in much smaller quantities. This meant we needed to look very seriously at a new digital option and is why we went to Sign UK to see what the market had to offer.”

At Sign UK 2007, Yvonne looked at a number of printers, but was quickly taken with the Colorspan printer on display on the Colourgen stand. “The people from Print Technologies seemed to have a genuine understanding of what we wanted to achieve and how we could achieve it. They directed us to the Colorspan, which ticked a lot of boxes straight away. We did not have a lot of space for the printer, so the Colorspan’s smaller footprint was important to us. We also liked the print quality and the speed and also the flexibility of the design, which enabled roll-fed media and collapsible beds. We decided to look at the printer in more detail and, in particular, test it out with a range of substrates, including our specialist photoluminescent media,” adds Yvonne.

As a specialist Company, Maritime Progress manufactures its own photoluminescent materials. This commenced after a great deal of research into phosphorescent pigments, plastics and adhesives. The result of these efforts achieved a substrate with high luminance, minimum shrinkage and excellent adhesion properties that is now purchased by other sign manufacturers all over the world for production of their own signs. The move also prompted the formation of Warnstar Signage Ltd to serve land-based signage customers

Yvonne Aldridge comments, “Print Technologies and Colourgen worked together very professionally to ensure that we could carry out a range of tests on various media types and environments. High quality printing to our photoluminescent media was a must-have and we all agreed the Colorspan coped very well. The printer also showed it was capable of handling other substrates often needed for safety signage, such as polished stainless steel and brass.”

Print Technologies installed the Colorspan 5460UV printer with the Caldera RIP. “We are finding the Caldera RIP really easy to use,” says Yvonne, adding, “It delivers accurate colour profiling as well as a range of workflow functions that allow us to manage jobs and job costings very easily.”

Yvonne Aldridge concludes, “We are still in the early days of using the Colorspan, but feel very confident that we have the right printer for our needs and are working with the right partners in Print Technologies and Colourgen. Both companies have been very responsive and have been quick and committed in resolving any issues we have had. We are already seeing some benefits, both in terms of time and cost-saving as well as the creation of new business opportunities and are looking forward to gaining even more from the printer the more we use it.”