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No more outsourcing

Lower costs and lead times

More diverse and creative product offerings

Minuteman Press complete their production portfolio with Trotec laser Q500 and become faster, more flexible and more efficient.

Application

Production of print materials, signs, other laser materials

Location

Bath, United Kingdom

Laser machine

Q500 dual source

Print excellence since 1998.

Based in Bath, Minuteman Press has specialised in supplying high-quality printed products to customers for 24 years. Beginning life as a small print and copy shop in central Bath, the business has grown over the years to become a market leader in its field having recently invested over £1 million on a move to a commercial unit in central Bath.

As a customer-centric business, Minuteman Press prides itself on its creativity and the value offered to customers with a passionate team dedicated to delivering the very best quality and standards throughout the print and finishing stages. The process isn't a simple production job, the team at Minuteman Press work with clients to enhance their ideas, add value to the end product while providing an honest and fair price for the service.

Bringing laser work in house.

With the slogan “We design, Print & Promote… You!”, Minuteman Press offer a comprehensive service including print, design and signage, with products ranging from greeting cards, wall planners and flyers to exhibition displays, shop fronts and vehicle graphics.

Minuteman Press prides itself on delivering the best possible results to customers in the shortest lead times.Before introducing the laser,  the team already used a wide selection of different technologies, including a range of printers and a mechanical flatbed cutter with a camera system. These technologies allowed Minuteman Press to offer a comprehensive service, however, some work, like pre-cutting acrylic, had to be outsourced or bought in from other suppliers. The cost was not significant, but meant that lower margins were made on projects and lead times could be affected.

To improve this circumstance, Minuteman Press first discussed investing in its own laser cutter as early as 2019. In 2022, the final decision was made to bring laser production in-house. The Sign and Digital show proved to be the perfect venue for Minuteman Press to explore laser production as there were four manufacturers at the show, including Trotec Laser. On the Trotec stand, David Ghent, Managing Director, and Kieran Blacknall, Visual Communications Manager, saw the Q500 Dual Source laser cutter in action. In a detailed discussion with one of the Trotec experts, they received comprehensive information and recommendations on the subject of laser processing. Kieran booked a demonstration at the Trotec showroom near Bristol the following week, testing a wide variety of materials on the Q500. Impressed with the versatility and quality of the machine, Minuteman Press invested in a Q500 Dual Source, which was installed in June 2022.

“The Q500 is an excellent addition to our workflow, giving us a new dimension to processing and allowing us to offer a comprehensive range of options for clients. We’re always looking for ways to add value to our portfolio by investing in the best technology and equipment, and we are excited by the possibilities offered by the Q500 and where it will take the business.”

Kieran Blacknall
Visual Communications Manager

A new string to the production bow.

The Q500 has added a new dimension to Minuteman’s processing and has opened up new ways to bring customer projects to life, with all products now being created in-house by the team. The Q500 and the mechanical cutting plotter are selected for jobs based on the application suitability. Whilst laser cutting is not suitable for processing materials containing PVC, it can process a wealth of substrates not possible with the plotter, including acrylics. The accuracy of the laser means that labels and stickers can be kiss cut, which is also not possible with the plotter.

To complete the range of laser services, Minuteman Press Bath purchased the add-on Trotec Vision Print & Cut camera system. This system enables printed materials with registration marks to be processed accurately, providing an efficient workflow and negating the need for manual alignment of jobs. .
Minuteman uses the Q500 to process a range of materials, including creating signage with Trotec’s TroLase laminates and incorporating LaserLeather into projects, with textiles being a completely new venture for the team.

For Minuteman Bath, the addition of the Q500 laser cutter means not only a full range of new applications - but also - with all work now produced in-house - complete control over project timings and quality.

"Trotec materials are excellent quality and allow us to offer something new to our range. Alongside TroLase signage, we have also processed multiple LaserLeather jobs, which, never having processed textiles before, was an exciting project for us to undertake. We’re also seeing lots of demand for printed acrylic signage and we’ve come up with a great workflow to produce this as a very high-quality product in-house with TroGlass."

Kieran Blacknall
Visual Communications Manager

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