Wide Format Imaging

When Mounir Murad, president of the Imaging Zone, was looking to bring his outdoor signage work in-house, he did a lot of homework. "Up until the summer of 2005, we were outsourcing all of our outdoor signage work to a neighboring graphics house but they moved away, so instead of trying to partner with another shop much further away, we decided to bring the equipment in and do it ourselves," he says.

Imaging Zone, based in Springfield, VA, and serving the Washington D.C-area, has been using Agfa equipment for nearly 20 years. It was that lasting relationship with Agfa that led them to the purchase of their :Grand Sherpa Universal AM-90. "I was looking at a number of eco-solvent models because of the environmental issues. I checked the output from the :Grand Sherpa Universal AM-90 at Graph Expo last year and I liked what I saw. Our shop is also very comfortable working with Agfa all these years so that was an added plus."

"Agfa's :Grand Sherpa Universal AM systems, with Agfa's fourth-generation solvent inks, offer us the best quality at top speeds, while proving a greener environment for the shop," says Muard.

He continues, "Overall the eight-color :Grand Sherpa Universal digital printing system has helped expand our business capabilities, letting us generate a range of high-quality products including: indoor and outdoor displays, banners, backlight outdoor signage," says Murad. "Although outsourcing can work well for some shops, tightening deadlines and loss of quality control made us consider bringing the process in-house. With our :Grand Sherpa Universal AM-90 from Agfa, we are getting the quality, schedule control and cost savings, while at the same time enjoying the environmentally safe mild solvent inks," he adds.

The Imaging Zone's business is about 80 percent offset, 15 percent wide-format, and five percent digital. "There were a lot of benefits to bringing the outdoor work in house when we installed the printer in October of 2005. We are using the :Grand Sherpa Universal AM-90 to output more superwide banners for clients. We are also using for indoor applications as well. We've done a lot of retractable units for trade shows. Its durable inks provide instant-dry, high-quality print- indoors and out," he concludes.