Aqua House Harnesses Agfa's Digital Technology for Customer Satisfaction

Founded on the central principle of customer service, Aqua House in Wichita, Kansas, started as a water distribution business in 1991, just as the bottled water market skyrocketed. Its founder Barry Hargis recognized an opportunity to provide point-of-sale (POS) promotions to his beverage accounts, who were clamoring to educate their thirsty consumers. Hargis launched a graphic production enterprise and grew it as fast as humans drink water by meeting customer demand. Today, Aqua House provides POS for the top three international beverage brands, among various other clients.

Embracing digital technology

With customer needs in mind, Aqua House embraced digital print technology, upgrading over the years to meet increasing business requirements.

“In the 1990s, we started with a flatbed and two modest-sized roll-to-roll printers,” said David Hamilton, president of Aqua House. “Then we added the Jeti Titan HS 126-inch flatbed wide-format inkjet system that offered vibrant output at high speeds. We liked the flatbed since we do a lot of double-sided printing on rigid media, and the Titan conveniently matched everything up. We installed a second Titan unit with the flat-to-roll option and dedicated it to all our flexible media jobs.”

Increased customer satisfaction

The efficient Titans simplified challenging overnight deliveries. The Aqua House team met demanding turn-around times with ease, increasing customer satisfaction. As the print business expanded, Aqua House upgraded to a faster Jeti Tauro H2500 hybrid with six color UV LED curing.

“Everyone fell in love with the Jeti Tauro LED,” Hamilton explained. “It’s user friendly and offers faster production speeds. We run everything in two- and three-pass mode, and the output looks amazing. Ninety percent of what we print includes trademarks, and the Tauro produces the fine print clearly and accurately.”

The hybrid Jeti Tauro H2500 LED offers six colors and an integrated roll-to-roll system with continuous and automated feeding of rigid and flexible media up to 2.54 m wide and print speeds up to 275 m²/hr. Depending on the application, Aqua House smoothly transitions from double-sided flatbed printing to -roll mode. The Jeti Tauro H2500 outputs a wide variety of media, including window clings, push-pull signage, posters, POP, backlit, front-lit, and self-adhesives, among others.

Streamlining business

The Jeti Tauro H2500 LED is driven by Agfa’s wide-format workflow software Asanti, which controls the printing process from prepress to production and finishing. Asanti simplifies, optimizes, and automates procedures, offering a high-performance solution for greater productivity. Its smart imaging algorithms enhance ink consumption, reducing costs and environmental impact.

Before long, Aqua House added a second Jeti Tauro H2500 to their shop and, with the added productivity, were able to take labor down from three to two work shifts.

Higher profits with less ink consumption

Aqua House can easily hit brand colors recognized in one blink by consumers around the globe. The Jeti Tauro engines run Anuvia UV LED inks, Agfa’s award-winning inks specifically formulated for the Jeti Tauro’s high performance. Anuvia inks provide a wide color gamut, high color vibrancy, and good adhesion even when subjected to outdoor weather conditions. The optimal dispersion of pigment particles in the ink, or ‘thin ink layer technology,’ means Tauro has the lowest ink consumption on the market.

“We use less ink on the Tauro, which we were shooting for when we installed the first engine,” said Hamilton.

Flowing to the future

The story of this unique print provider starts with the power of water and flows ever forward. Since its beginning, Aqua House has served its customers well and thrived. Being service-oriented means Aqua House knows when to upgrade technology and broaden its capabilities. Harnessing the horsepower of Agfa’s Jeti Tauro inkjet printers satisfies customers, drives business, and inspires a successful, creative future.

Source: Agfa 

The preceding press release was provided by a company unaffiliated with Wide-format Impressions. The views expressed within do not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of Wide-format Impressions.