After Soyang Europe and Josero recently announced their new partnership with leading finishing solutions provider Vivid Laminating Technologies, LFR took a closer look at the deal and how it could help UK customers.
News of the partnership broke in mid-September, with Soyang Europe and Josero joining Vivid on its stand at The Print Show 2023 to mark the occasion. Understandably, the announcement drew great levels of interest, with Vivid being regarded as one of the leading providers of print finishing equipment, and Soyang Europe and Josero adding another major brand to their partnership portfolio.
Only last year was Soyang Europe going public with news of its partnership with Fujifilm to sell the Acuity Ultra R2 superwide printers into the UK market. This came shortly after it acquired Josero, which, now operating in tandem with Soyang Europe, was focused on hardware sales as opposed to Soyang Europe’s more traditional focus on materials.
Soyang Europe’s shift to hardware over the past 12 months has been swift and impressive, to the point where it is now serving as an approved reseller of the VeloBlade range of digital die cutters from Vivid.
As to why this agreement is particularly noteworthy, Soyang Europe and Josero will be offering customers access to the entire portfolio of VeloBlade cutters. The range comprises two core options: VeloBlade Volta digital cutting tables and the VeloBlade Nexus wide-format digital die-cutting systems.
It is the latter of these that will be the primary focus for Soyang Europe and Josero, which have gone so far as to invest in one of these models themselves, in order to showcase its capabilities at their own specialist facility in Accrington. Now in place, Soyang Europe and Josero customers can drop in to see the machine in action and learn about how it can benefit their business.
The Vivid VeloBlade Nexus is available in four sizes. The smallest of these machines comes in the form of the VeloBlade Nexus 1816 which measures 1,800mm x 1,600mm, while its bigger brother, the VeloBlade Nexus 2516, measures 2,500mm x 1,600mm. Meanwhile, the VeloBlade Nexus 3016 measures 3,300mm x 1,600mm, with the largest of the digital die cutters being the Veloblade Nexus 3322 which measures 3,300mm x 2,200mm.
While the sizes of these machines may differ, a standard feature across all three is that they are all capable of handling materials up to 25mm thick such as dibond, MDF, fabrics and acrylic. They all also benefit from an automatic cut depth setting, making operation easier for users and increasing accuracy, while a rotating bed for roll-fed and sheetfed production makes production even smoother.
But what really makes these machines stand out from others in the market is their tool sets. Take the VeloBlade Nexus 2516 for example; this is supplied with four heads as standard and comes with a v-cut tool, creasing wheel tool, kiss cut tool, driven cutting tool (DCT), router (60,000 RPM) with water cooler, oscillating tool and a PC and stand. Zipcore packaging software can be added as an optional extra.
With the multi-tooled Veloblade Nexus sitting at a starting point of £57K, or financed for £293/week, perhaps ‘game changer’ is indeed pertinent here.
The words ‘game changer’ perhaps gets bandied about too readily, and sometimes without any real justification. In this instance, perhaps it’s more fitting. Buy a digital cutting table with 4 toolheads and multiple tools from one of the other reputable brands, and you might be spending the sort of money usually associated with a house purchase. We are not saying that those quality products are not worth the premium price. However, such a high cost is simply not justifiable for all businesses.
The new Veloblade range, in comparison, sits at a starting price point of £57K. It has an exceptional specification featuring multiple toolheads and included tools, allowing a far broader range of businesses to benefit from the increased productivity and functionality usually associated with much higher ticket price systems.
When you factor in financing – available from Soyang Europe – that makes the Veloblade affordable for a cost in the region of £293/week, perhaps ‘game changer’ is indeed pertinent in this particular case.
Add in that it is available from a starting price of £57,000 – much lower than machines from other suppliers that offer similar tools and configurations – and the teams at Soyang Europe and Josero can expect a high level of interest now they are acting as a reseller.
Swinging back to the opening question about how this deal will benefit customers; to put it simply, those that purchase the VeloBlade Nexus 2516, or indeed any other model from Soyang Europe and Josero, will have access to long-term technical support.
As is the case with all the solutions that they provide, Soyang Europe and Josero are very much committed to working with customers throughout the entire buying process, right from the initial enquiry to after the machine has been installed. Easy to access support from knowledgeable experts can only be a good thing for companies looking to invest tens of thousands of pounds in new machinery.
In fact, Lewis Evans from Vivid alluded to this when the partnership launched at The Print Show just weeks ago, saying such an approach to aftercare is similar to that offered by Vivid to its own customers.
“Vivid is able to offer high-quality support with its expert customer service team in the UK,” he said. “When buying solutions, it’s not just the quality of the product that should be considered, but also how well customers will be looked after when the sale completes. In tandem with Soyang Europe and Josero, we are able to provide excellent local support.
“Nearly 40% of our team are in the manufacturing and R&D department and we have over 20 patents. While the frame on all products is imported into Vivid, we add technology enhancements to deliver award-winning products at a great price.
“We take this very seriously. It separates us from those companies that are simply box-shifting from overseas; they are totally reliant on other companies not to mess up.
“For Vivid, it’s different. Our customers can look forward to constant VeloBlade improvements and new launches for their machines, along with live on-the-job service and support. Our next enhancements and patents are always just around the corner.”
A partnership between knowledgeable, reliable and committed businesses is only going to be good news for the industry. Given the existing relationship between the businesses, who is to say that this partnership will not continue to expand, grow and succeed?
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