Hanover Park, Ill. – FUJIFILM North America Corporation, Graphic Systems Division shares a wide format industry success story with long-time customer Midwest Graphics, an Indianapolis, Indiana-based print provider founded in 1989. 

Midwest Graphics invested in a Fujifilm Acuity HD-2504 in 2008, and then added an Acuity Advance in 2011, both of which remain active equipment on their production floor. Recently, they added a new Acuity F as the third press within their Acuity line-up to produce their growing volume of work.

The Acuity F, the newest flatbed press to join the Acuity platform, features dual work zones and registration pins as standard. This UV press is capable of producing exceptional print quality at speeds up to 1,668 square feet per hour, considerably more productive than the previous Acuity models. The Acuity F, typically configured with seven colors, including light inks and white, maintains all the advantages of the popular and successful Acuity series, including near-photographic image quality, versatility and ease of use; and is optimized for the efficient and high speed production of rigid media applications. 

“The speed of the Acuity F, as well as the impressive quality, has increased our throughput, and improved our bottom line,” said Craig Heavener, Research & Development and Wide Format Specialist, Midwest Graphics. “The output we are getting from the Acuity F is far superior compared to our previous press, and as a result we are now able to get much better product out the door.”

The Acuity F is designed for high productivity of display and signage purposes, yet Midwest Graphics has implemented this press to enhance their specialized corrugated printing offerings. Their Acuity F is quickly approaching 1.5 million square feet, since its install earlier this year.

“Our Acuity F absolutely helps in sales process with new and existing customers,” said Mike LaLonde, Co-owner and President, Midwest Graphics. The sheer output from the Acuity F enables us to be very flexible and cost-competitive, and our jobs are turning much quicker. The Acuity F is an enormous advantage for us, the versatility is tremendous for us; it’s been a big help sales-wise because it’s a big help production-wise.”

A state-of-the-art platform capable of a wide range of print applications allows for efficient and high quality output. Its large bed size at 8’ x 10’, and zoned vacuum system enables the Acuity F to handle a variety of substrates up to 2” thick.

“We experienced the Acuity F at Fujifilm’s Chicago Technology Center, and we knew this was the press for us upon quickly learning how we can put more sheets on the larger bed, allowing more through-put for corrugated and packaging workflow, and not just signage and POP-type jobs,” adds LaLonde.

 “Fujifilm is always very accommodating to us,” says Heavener. “It was an easy decision to purchase another Acuity; specifically because of our great relationship with Fujifilm. Having Fujifilm with us years ago when we made the transition from analog to digital printing has been an important part of our success.”