New Acuity Hybrid is latest first for Echo House

Echo House has scored another Fujifilm first after installing the first Acuity Ultra Hybrid LED printer in the world.

Acuity Hybrid LED is expected to deliver "exceptional quality with greater flexibility"
Acuity Hybrid LED is expected to deliver "exceptional quality with greater flexibility"
The Surbiton-based creative production specialist has become the global beta site for the new superwide model, which was unveiled as the centrepiece of Fujifilm’s exhibit at last year’s Fespa show in Berlin.

The company is a long-standing Fujifilm customer and also installed the world’s first Acuity Ultra back in 2018.

The new Acuity Ultra Hybrid LED has a 3.3m print width and a top resolution of 1,200x1,200dpi.

It can handle two differing media rolls, or up to six sheet types when printing onto rigid substrates. Top speed is 218sqm/hr in roll-to-roll mode.

The device was described as “a print shop in one” that had been developed with a focus on ease-of-use and ROI when it was launched at the heart of Fujifilm’s new generation ‘Blueprint’ platform for wide-format devices.

The new Acuity was installed at Echo House at the end of last month.

Director of operations Peter Onyskiw said the firm’s 2018 Acuity Ultra, a 5m-wide device, was “still going strong”. It has been relocated within Echo House’s facility, which now extends to four units on the Red Lion Business Park, to make room for the new model.

“We’re excited to be first again. We work in a rapidly innovative and highly creative sector, serving some of the largest companies in the world, with brands who set extremely high expectations for us.

“The Acuity Ultra Hybrid LED combines exceptional quality with greater flexibility through its hybrid capability – giving us even more creative potential to continue to meet, and exceed, our customers’ expectations. The technological efficiencies, flexibility and reliability further extend our sustainable credentials to boot.”

He told Printweek: “We have a great partnership with Fujifilm and we're looking forward to getting the machine going and into production. Quality of print is what we're about, that is paramount to us and we feel this is the next step in what we need in our arsenal.”

Echo House employs 125 staff and works for a raft of high-end clients including fashion and beauty brands, museums and galleries. It offers clients eco materials and environmentally sustainable production.

Fujifilm has developed a new inkset for the Acuity Ultra Hybrid LED, Uvijet UH, that has Greenguard Gold and AgBB certification.

The inks are available in six colours (CMYK, Lm, Lc) as standard, with white as an option, and that is included in the spec on the Echo House device.

David Burton, director of Fujifilm Wide Format Inkjet Systems said Echo House was a “natural fit” thanks to the long and successful partnership that has been established between the two firms.

He commented: “We’re delighted to be starting a new chapter in our journey with them – and we look forward to working with them as they look to harness the considerable potential of this hybrid press to target new business opportunities.”

The new device is being put through its paces alongside a raft of other printers that provide Echo House with its “eclectic” print capabilities: a Fujifilm Acuity Advance Select HS, two EFI Vutek GS3250 Pro hybrids, and a Vutek 5R.

Onyskiw said that at the end of the beta test the Acuity Hybrid LED was expected to join the line-up as additional capacity.

Echo House also runs a Formlabs 3D printer, Esko Kongsberg XN44 cutting table, laser cutting and CNC routing devices, and a high-precision waterjet cutting table.

Its services include creative design and artworking, print production, fabrication, packaging and logistics, and installation.