Mutoh has joined the ranks of inkjet printer OEMs and ink manufacturers who are partnering with Avery Dennison Graphics Division to provide warranted solutions for graphics produced on Avery materials.
Graphics output onto Avery's MPI 1005 EZ cast film with a Mutoh Toucan solvent-system inkjet printer and protected with Avery DOL 1000 series laminating films can now qualify for Avery's ICS Fleet warranty. If graphics should happen to fail before the warranted period, Avery will not only replace the materials, but also the cost of installing the graphics.
Avery's MPI 1005 EZ cast film, with Easy Apply technology, is Avery's primary product for digitally output fleet graphics and is warranted for up to five years. The Easy Apply technology enhances repositionability during installation, which allows for faster, more efficient installation of large graphics.
“The ICS Fleet Warranty is a gold standard among extended fleet warranties,” says Guy Cipresso, Mutoh vice-president of business development. “It will open up additional opportunities in a burgeoning fleet graphics market.”
Here's why Avery can be so confident about the graphics its warrants. In 1999, Avery Dennison established standardized testing procedures for determining the durability of outdoor graphics. These procedures recognize that outdoor durability involves much more than fade-resistance.
Each product tested for warranty undergoes at least 2500 hours of testing, that takes into account factors such as how well the graphic performs in terms of ink adhesion, water resistance, dimensional stability, and conformability and adhesion to the surface to which the graphic is applied. Fleet graphics must also be able to withstand hazards such as road-salt spray and pressure washing.
Fleet graphics aren't the only type of warranted graphic that can be produced on a Mutoh Toucan. The Avery ICS material-replacement warranty covers Toucan-printed graphics on other Avery materials and protected with Avery-approved laminating films and clearcoats. This gives Toucan owners to a way to choose the most cost-effective, but thoroughly tested and warranted combination of materials for use in posters, one-way see-through window graphics, banners, promotional graphics and billboards.
“Toucan-printed graphics meet or exceed all of our performance standards,” says Tom Durner, business development manager for Avery Dennison Graphics Division. (Avery Dennison Graphics Division: 800-443-9380, www.averygraphics.com; Mutoh America, Inc.: 800-996-8864, www.mutoh.com)