Altstätten (CH), April 2007 – Schaa GmbH was founded in 1974 as a photo studio and professional photo lab.  The company's primary customer base consisted of professional photographers, ad agencies, and exhibit builders in the area, when Schaa's volume of orders began to grow rapidly.  Large-format photo production for exhibits and displays quickly became the company's primary focus.  In 1990, Schaa built and relocated to a brand-new, 2000 m2 facility designed as cutting-edge photo lab.  By 2005, Schaa had expanded to a total of 2500 m2 with 25 employees working a flexible shift schedule.

Entry into the Digital Age

As early as 1991, Schaa was using a digital exposure device and the Kodak Premier System for digital photo editing.  At that time, digital printing technology was still a long way from achieving the quality and efficiency required for truly "large-format" photographs.  Yet in 1992, the "Novajet 2" inkjet printer heralded the arrival of the age of digital printing, which precipitated the demise of analog photo technology more rapidly than anyone expected.  By the end of 2000, Schaa had converted all photographic image production to digital printing.  This is, of course, where the Zünd UVjet 250-Combi comes into play as well. Today Schaa's core business consists of producing graphics for presentation systems of all kinds, particularly, standardized formats for exhibit and display systems, in series of 1 to 1,000 pieces.

In addition, Schaa offers its customers full-service graphics production, consisting of everything from design to finishing, delivery/ installation, and even storage. A wide range of materials are being used, including Forex, acrylics, Kappa, plastic films, and textiles up to a width of 250cm.  Specialty materials used for printing include tile and even corroded steel for an unusual artistic application.


Increase in Customer Order and Production Volume

Harald Schaa states: "Without the investment in the Zünd UVjet 250-Combi and the Zünd L-2500 flatbed cutter, the increase in our production at the required levels of quality would have been unthinkable. “ At present, more orders (for approx. 10.000 pcs per year), particularly in roll-ups, are printed on the Uvjet 250-Combi. Even considering this particular market segment alone, expansion of existing business and further potential for growth was, and continues to be possible only with the addition of the Zünd printer.  Of course, the equipment serves many other purposes as well.  In the finishing department, Schaa relies heavily on the Zünd flatbed cutter for creasing/scoring, routing, trimming, and contour-cutting.  120,000 m2 of media are processed annually.  Of these, approximately 20,000 m2 are printed with UV-curable inks on the UVjet 250-Combi. In the future, Schaa is expecting continued growth in high-resolution UV printing of rigid materials.  The company's goal is to further standardize and optimize its large-format graphics production.  The plan is to print complete tradeshow displays on rigid plastics and to take these directly to the cutter for finishing, while completely eliminating lamination.

Production Increase, Cost-Savings, and Efficiencies

With the utilization of the Zünd UVjet 250-Combi and the Zünd flatbed cutting/routing system, Schaa GmbH was able to realize savings in production costs of 30% and a 15% decrease in materials cost.  Production time and personnel requirements have decreased dramatically.  While in the past, it took 2-3 employees to cut roll-ups in approx. 10 min., it now takes only one person to do the same job in 2 minutes. The complete production process, from printing to digital finishing, has been reduced by 60% and limited to one employee.  Being able to print directly to PVC banner materials has resulted in tremendous increases in productivity as well as profitability.  The ROI on the cutter alone was less than 1 year, while the entire investment will have been amortized in approx. 1.5 years. For anyone interested, Schaa GmbH will be conducting an Open House event in June (for more information, please visit the company's website at www.schaa.de ). This is where one can witness the Zünd Print + Cut concept "put into action".  Harald Schaa concludes:  "I would like to take this opportunity to thank Zünd Systemtechnik for the many years of successful and mutually beneficial cooperation between our two companies.  The deciding factor for us in installing a Zünd as our third UV printer is the high level of print quality and reliability, which lends our entire production process a superior degree of dependability."

Fact Box

Schaa GmbH's equipment list includes the following printers:  five Rastergraphics Bellise Dye, one Seiko 64 Solvent, one Oce 6010 Solvent, one Colorspan Solvent, one Colorspan UV, and one Zünd UVjet 250-Combi. For textile applications, the company uses one Mimaki TX2 and one Mimaki JV3. For finishing, they have at their disposal four hot laminators, three additional laminators, two 130cm drum cutters, and a multipurpose Zünd flatbed cutter/router for cutting/routing, creasing/scoring, trimming and contour-cutting.