Foam Core No More: Rochester In-plant Embraces Flatbed Printing

Printing and mounting on foam core has long been a way of life for the three-man in-plant team at Rochester City School District – but it’s not the way Supervisor Tom Licata wanted to continue doing yard signs and posters; he wanted a flatbed printer.

Earlier this year he finally got his wish when his Rochester, New York, in-plant brought in a Xante X-36 UV flatbed inkjet printer.

The in-plant has used the new flatbed to print on a variety of items.

“I bought it to do the graduation yard signs, but it’s turned out that we’re using it for everything,” says Licata. “Now that people see this stuff [printed] directly on the foam core, that's all they want. Not only does it look better, but it’s actually easier for us.”

Mounting is now a thing of the past, he says.

“Plus it’s cheaper,” he adds. “I mean like significantly cheaper.”

Passing those savings on to customers has made the district very happy.

With a 36x24” image area, and dual LED lamps for instant ink curing, the X-36 has not only cut costs and saved time, it’s opened up opportunities for new kinds of work. Licata and his crew have used it to print on glass, metal, brick, stone, ceramic tile, and even golf balls.

“Every time I walk by something, I’m like, ‘Can I print on it?’” he says.

The in-plant had been using a Sawgrass Virtuoso SG800 inkjet sublimation printer and a heat press to produce promotional materials, but the team is finding that the X-36 can do that work faster. Licata has plans to use it to create awards, gifts, and even braille signage.

Replacing B&W With Color

But that’s not the only thing new at Rochester City School District. The shop also replaced a Konica Minolta bizhub PRESS 1250 black-and-white printer with a Konica Minolta AccurioPress C7090 color printer. This now gives the in-plant three color and three monochrome Konica Minolta printers.

From left: Tom Licata, Anthony Gigliotti, and Matt Cushman stand with the new Konica Minolta AccurioPress C7090 at Rochester City School District.

“We needed a little more balance,” explains Licata.

The volume of black-and-white workbooks the shop was producing has gone down, he says, while the need for another color device with in-line perfect binding has increased. The C7090 can handle thicker stocks much better than the shop’s two bizhub PRESS C1100s, he says.

Because those devices struggled with thick paper, the in-plant previously only offered one-sided business cards, he says.

“Now, with the 7090, if you want a two-sided business card, it’s fine,” he says. “We try to run everything on the 7090.” That includes brochures, calendars, forms, flyers, graduation programs, curriculum materials, even yearbooks.

Items printed by the in-plant on its new Xante flatbed printer.

Licata loves that it uses the same Fiery front end as the shop’s other printers, making it easy to move jobs from press to press.

As great as the AccurioPress C7090 is, though, Licata admits he enjoys running the Xante even more.

“It’s a lot more fun than putting ink on paper,” he says.