The Most Innovative Display Graphics Business Ever? McGowans Print Sets the Standard!
McGowans Print, with offices in Dublin and Belfast, has been a digital business from the beginning, an early adopter of the INCA Eagle. Today, celebrating its 30th year in business, the company has an annual turnover of €20 million, 140 employees, three manufacturing plants and more than 24 different printing devices. McGowans has 20,000 square feet of manufacturing space in Belfast, and two plants in Dublin, one with 70,000 square feet and one with 35,000 square feet.
McGowans specializes in the display graphics market, heavily involved in manufacturing freestanding corrugated displays for the retail industry. “We have been printing with the Agfa MPress, which was the fastest in its class when it was developed,” Mal McGowan stated. “We also have two Durst flatbeds – one automated 1030 and a semi-automated 1312. We also have a Scitex 10000. And we have 3 meter and 5 meter Dursts for soft signage.”
McGowan reports that he had been watching the single pass market for some time and was having conversations with EFI as the EFI Nozomi C18000 digital direct-to-corrugated single-pass press was in development. “They had quite a good specification on the press,” he says. “One of the key things for us was that it could print a sheet size of 1.8 by 3 meters, and no one else can print anything near that size. Other systems were geared primarily for the packaging, rather than the display graphics, market. When we finally had a demonstration, we were awestruck with not only the speed of 75 linear meters per minute, but also the exceptional quality far better than any flatbed technology.”
About 1.5 years ago, McGowan’s was one of the earliest Nozomi installs. McGowan’s interest was a bit of a surprise for EFI, according to its previous CEO, Guy Gecht, since the target for Nozomi was the packaging market. McGowan’s interest opened a new perspective for EFI as to the potential Nozomi market reach.
I asked McGowan whether the press had lived up to expectations after a year and a half. “The reality surpassed expectations,” he said. “They continually improve the quality. The quality is better than litho lam in most cases. The reliability is great. And what it has helped us do is grow our footprint with our existing customer base as well as attract new customers in Ireland, the UK and Europe.”
Before the Nozomi, McGowans’ ability to compete was hampered. “Traditional digital flatbeds are good for runs up to maybe 400,” he says. “With the Nozomi, you really can compete head on with litho lam or any amount of floor display units – 3,000, 4,000, 5,000 – whatever it takes.”
In addition to stepping up its production of standalone displays, Nozomi has also enabled McGowans to get int the corrugated box business. “We never could have done that before,” he says, “produce short to medium runs of corrugated boxes.” The company is running solid board of 2 mils down to 1,000 microns, using them for point of sale, hanging mobiles and more. “We are also printing on plastic Corex board and testing other plastics. We’re building up a library of different substrates we can print. EFI is also developing a top feeder, and we are looking forward to adding that, which will allow us to print on paper down to 200 grams.” McGowans’ retail customers use Corex-based displays for short-term outdoor signage, and the company also creates some of its display units from Corex.
For McGowans, the acquisition of the Nozomi has had a significant impact on turnover. “We increased turnover in the first year by €3 million,” McGowan says “and we are targeting an increase of €6 million purely based on the Nozomi before putting in a second one.
McGowans’ 35,000 square foot Dublin manufacturing space is dedicated to the Nozomi. “When we add a second one,” he says, “we will need even more space. It creates a lot of print. In fact, we don’t have any problem at all keeping up with print demands. Our challenge now is automating finishing.” The company has added more automated GlueJets and installed automatic die cutting from Young Shin that can keep up with the Nozomi, cutting about 2,000 sheets per hour. “Finishing flexibility is critical in the display market,” McGowan says. “Every piece is bespoke for that product and that customer.”
