FESPA DIGITAL 2006 – MICROLIGHT ARTICLE
Partners in creativity
If ever there was a winning combination, it is that of ink manufacturer J-Teck3 and Microtek, an innovative company that was first established in Milan in 2002. Since then Microtek has proved that the advantages of digital printing, such as flexibility, high colour definition and low cost, can be used to good effect in a number of different market sectors such as furniture, textiles, fashion and interior design. However, the company has made the creation of special effects, for use in interior decoration, into something of a speciality. Don’t, however, imagine that we are talking about home interiors here; rather, Microtek has earned itself something of a reputation for producing large scale applications of the sort found in ships, aircraft and public buildings of all denominations. For these, the company uses the J-Teck 3 range of digital inks to create sumptuous looking effects that simulate marble, wood, ceramics and a host of other finishes, as well as finely detailed graphics that harness both its design skill and expertise in the area of production. Much of Microtek’s success to date is down to the fact that it meticulously controls every aspect of colour management, from the initial photographic preparation of every file, through to final production. It has also developed several special techniques which is uses to achieve the effects that it requires, which are patent protected. Microtek initially prints its design on to sublimation paper, using a large plotter in
54 FESPA WORLD SPRING/06
conjunction with J-Teck 3’s environmentally friendly ink, J-Eco Subly. In fact, Microteck is so in demand, that its current workload obliges it to run seven large printers, all of which are fitted with the J-Teck Feeder, simultaneously! Massimo Scarpato, Microtek’s Director and also the creative brain behind the company’s success, comments: "Our products can be divided into three categories; prints on to plastic materials, on to textiles, and on to decorative paper. In each of these different market segments, we are collaborating with clients who are as discerning as we are ourselves and who expect the highest possible standards. This is why the consistent reliability of J-Teck inks is so important; they enable us to produce high quality output with the exceptional image definition and colour reproduction that are fundamental, if we are to achieve the desired results. Furthermore, thanks to the optimal dispersion of J-Eco Subly, it is possible to print non-stop without having to worry about the printheads clogging up." When creating special effects, the printed graphics undergo a final heattransfer passage on treated aluminium, which facilitates the extremely accurate and realistic reproduction of marble and wood that is used to decorate walls, ceilings, floors and furniture as illustrated here.
Scarpato continues: "One of the other things that is very important to us, in addition to the quality of the output, is the fact that J-Teck inks are environmentally friendly. We pride ourselves on being a thoroughly modern company and that means ensuring that our staff work in the best conditions possible and that we cause as little damage to the environment as possible. In our daily working process we respect the norms of the Ethical Certification (SA8000 -Social Accountability System), and our textile printing is OEKO TEX Standard 100 certified at all levels (also Class I), so it would be impossible for us to use products that weren’t similarly ethical. " Despite the fact that Microtek is a company that is obsessed with the aesthetics of the printing process, it hasn’t forgotten about functionality. Indeed, it has industrialised its plotters in order to achieve maximum productivity. Scarpato reports: "We are able to produce orders of up to l0,000 metres as easily as we can produce volumes of less than l00 metres and in many cases are now achieving the same level of productivity as companies operating traditional printing processes, without sacrificing quality." Certainly, the combination of Microtek’s creativity and J-Teck’s digital inks offers both companies – and Microtek’s clients – the best of all possible worlds!