Panda: not an endangered species

Each of these machine installations marked a first for New Zealand.

Bruce Lees, director at Panda Inspire, says the company also changed its name from Panda Visuals to reflect the direction the company has taken.

He says, “As digital run volumes have climbed and production times have decreased, it became clear to us that it was time for a full review of Panda – our direction and future requirements. Rather than just look at updating some equipment we decided to look at the company as a whole and give it a good examination from top to bottom.

“Starting 28 years ago, as a four man screen printing company, which completed all its work manually, Panda has evolved and grown as the requirements of customers have also evolved. But the industry we operate in moves fast and demands much. We recognise that the market changes and that a company that stands still inevitably starts going backwards. Moving constantly forward is a Panda trait so we have spent the last 12 months completely reviewing our business strategy, our market positioning and our product offering.

Fresh strategy

“WE have gone through a process of working out who we were to our customers; how well we were meeting our customer needs; and identifying how we could improve our service and technological offering for the future. With the help of our great staff we have worked through our vision and values for the future direction of Panda. Everyone has put in a huge effort to bringing together the new branding, while ensuring that we get our customers’ jobs out on time.”

The rebranding and new equipment means happier customers. He says, “It means you can print any shape you want; print any quantity you need; and you can print on any material that suits. That includes self-adhesives, banners, fabrics, cards corrugated boards, aluminium, plastic. We offer extra-long and wide sizes and all of this at incredible turnaround speeds.

Panda has long standing relationships with its equipment and material suppliers. Lees says, “Their continued support has been invaluable in our growth and future development.”

He concludes, “Under the Panda Inspire banner, we continue to build and enhance the level of our services and products. We offer print versatility, speed, quality and cost-efficiencies: faster, smarter and better.”

With a clear future business strategy, Panda Inspire clarified its investment in new machinery from Jenrite.

 

The company’s industrial HP Scitex FB11000 press can produce more than one million square metres a year, according to HP.

It offers options on loading and unloading; printing on acrylics, foam PVC, PVC sheets, polystyrene (HIPS), fluted polypropylene, polycarbonate, polyethylene, polypropylene, synthetic paper, SAV,4 paper, foam board, corrugated cardboard,5 compressed cardboard,6 and others; rigid and flexible sheets up to 1.6m x 3.2m and thickness from 0.1mm up to 25mm.

The HP Latex 3100 produces a range of applications at a speed of 77sqm/hr for high quality printing. Aimed at signage and decoration, it offers a wider colour gamut, six colours, and 1200dpi.

HP says that its Latex inks conform to the media surface, preserving gloss and texture. The company adds that it easily handles peaks in production. Operators can proof while printing with LED proofing lights for on-printer visual assessment and proofing.

At a lower volume, the HP Latex 370 printer prints on a range of substrates, even textiles. It also offers six colours and printing at 1200dpi. Other features include three litre cartridges; HP Latex Mobile remote monitoring; prints come out dry and ready to finish and deliver; 31sqm/hr speed for outdoor quality; and scratch-resistant prints to last outdoors up to five years laminated and three years unlaminated.

Esko says that its Kongsberg C64 cutting table handles all types of substrates, from thick to thin and offers a 3kW continuous duty high-performance milling unit.