Gilson Graphics Turns to Fujifilm's J Press to Invest in Company Growth

Michigan-based Gilson Graphics serves retail, higher education, gaming, manufacturing, medical, book publishing and agency verticals, to name a few sectors. It has always been at the forefront of printing technology—incorporating the latest and most advanced equipment into its business since the 1970s. In December, the company continued its early adaption and produced its first job with the new FUJIFILM J Press 720 sheetfed inkjet press, marking the first J Press 720 customer installation in the United States.

There was a lot of buzz at Gilson Graphics surrounding the installation and start-up of the J Press 720 – lots of questions and curiosity from all areas of the business. The company has found that continued investment in technology gives its employees incentive and room to grow.

Getting down to brass tacks, the J Press 720 investment provides Gilson Graphics with increased job turnarounds due to the elimination of time-consuming platemaking/makeready processes the ability to print on a larger sheet size and flexibility in terms of substrates (70-pound text to 14-pt. coated and uncoated stocks). Gilson Graphics said the speed to makeready is unprecedented. It allows the company to offer better economics for its customers because it can now produce much shorter run, high-end color production than in the past. It meets customer needs for custom collateral pieces printed on-demand.

The 29.5x20.8-inch maximum sheet size is a bonus for retail signage. Because the J Press 720 marries the front end of an offset press to an inkjet engine, Gilson Graphics benefits from a sheetfed press and the quick makeready, printing advantages of a digital press on run lengths less than 3,000. The J Press 720 also makes it possible to generate products that previously were inefficient to print any way other than using offset technology, including shortrun pocket folders, books and personalized cartons.