Jim and Anita O’Shaughnessy, Directors, Sound Control Services

UV printer drives new print work spin-offs for this acoustics specialist

CMYUK, Shrewsbury – Sound Control Services in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire has installed an EFI VUTEk Pro 32r from CMYUK.

This 3.2m wide roll-to-roll LED printer replaces a EFI VUTEk QS 3200 hybrid printer, and its capabilities have already attracted new work opportunities.

“We’ve definitely branched out because we’ve really had to justify buying a printer of this calibre. With this new machine we can do so much more, and it has presented us with more opportunities. It’s opened up a whole new world,” says Jim O’Shaughnessy, Owner and MD, Sound Control Services.

Sound Control Services provides a wide variety of acoustic solutions including panels, foam, blankets, baffles and vibration damping materials for customers in the education, corporate, community, industrial, marine, media and military since it was set-up by Jim O’Shaughnessy – an acoustics engineer back n 2003.

The company works closely with architects and developers, and as well as off-the-shelf products develops its own certified solutions, which are built in the UK.

From sound to vision
Five and a half years ago, it purchased an EFI VUTEk QS 3200 printer to enable it to cope with the growing number of branded acoustic wraps, which up until this point were being outsourced.

“We weren’t really that bothered with it as we’re not printers but our construction clients kept asking for printed acoustic building wraps that made us delve into the whole process a little more, and led to the purchase of the VUTEk QS,” says Jim.

“We produce large volumes of architectural products such as panels that hang from the ceilings, baffles that reduce unwanted ambient noise in large spaces such as gyms, halls, lobbies, and wall panels. However, now we've got the ability to print on the fabrics that surround these products – the Pro 32r produces really fantastic prints at really high quality,” he says.

In addition to new projects, the VUTEk Pro 32r has set the company up nicely for panel refurbishment work not only for existing clients but also for customers who originally bought panels from elsewhere.

“We can rewrap in corporate colours and graphics. We're doing a job at the moment for a customer that had some acoustic panels installed but then got taken over by another company that wanted to brand these with all its corporate colours. We bought the panels back here, and then printed them to their specific RAL colours,” says Jim.

This work has started to naturally evolve into obvious next step opportunities such as corporate fit outs.

“This seems to be one of the ways we’re going. We’ve had those sorts of enquiries from our existing customers. Once they know you’ve got a printer of this calibre then different enquiries start to come in that we certainly wouldn’t have had before,” he says.

Trust in EFI VUTEk
The company decided to replace the EFI VUTEk QS-3200 due to its age but was committed to remain with the VUTEk brand and CMYUK service and support.

THE EFI VUTEK Pro 32r is a 3.2m wide printer designed to push businesses towards greater productivity. A four-colour machine with a white ink option, it uses cool cure LED technology that not only reduces operating costs but has a lower environmental footprint.

“Continuing with CMYUK seemed the natural way to go. The support we’ve been given is very good. EFI VUTEk printers are reliable, high quality machines that are used widely. We really liked the QS 3200 and the way it operates. Obviously the Pro 32r is a big step-up but all we ever print is fabric and a dedicated roll-to-roll system is absolutely perfect for us,” says Jim.

The EFI VUTEk Pro 32r comes with a slitter option which automatically cuts material to any designated size within its 3.2m maximum width.

“It certainly helps having a wide format printer, because it gives you more scope. You can put multiple separate images next to one another and print that way, or if you need a super-sized image, you can just tile everything together. It’s just fantastic,” he says.

Sound Control Services buys its inks from CMYUK and has recently begun to use PONGS® materials. In addition to vivid colour reproduction, stability and ease of handling, PONGS® materials are recyclable, and offer additional enhancement such as inherent FR, acoustic properties and microbial treatments – perfect for public, educational and healthcare settings.

Lockdown effect
Sound Control Services had enough acoustic work to remain ticking over during the Lockdown, and by September began to get very busy again. However, the installation of the Pro 32r in April this year shifted the company into another gear. Says Jim: “We’ve not even really advertised that we've got a new VUTEk printer but it’s got out through word of mouth. While our existing customers have been keeping us very busy, we’re always looking to develop new products and are very interested to explore the PONGS® range further. Right now, we’re aware of the new opportunities that are coming our way, and will be following them as and when they arrive.”