Soyang Europe announced that it had secured the Great Britain distribution rights for Platinum Technologies LIYU earlier this year. Subsequently, the company will showcase this technology on stand S410 at The Print Show, with three machines running close to the main entrance of the event: the Signature Hybrid, the Platinum KCXL and the Platinum PCT LED.
There has been plenty of noise around the change. The NEC Birmingham – which is the first major UK exhibition since the new agreement was put in place – provides potential buyers with a chance to get some substantive clarity on the matter.
Platinum Technologies LIYU itself is considerably more established than its UK profile sometimes suggests. The company has manufactured large-format printers since 2004 and says it now produces more than 1,200 machines a year, with an established European operation and a sizeable installed base. LIYU Italia alone reports more than 380 installations since inception.
Platinum Technologies LIYU’s CEO Oguz Dincer has described the company as Europe’s fastest-growing wide-format technology brand. We cannot independently verify that ranking across the whole European market, so LFR is treating it as the manufacturer’s claim. The installation numbers do, however, make Platinum Technologies LIYU difficult to dismiss as a fringe supplier.
The more useful question for a UK buyer is where the machines fit. We’ll do our best to answer that for you below.
Platinum Technologies LIYU Signature Hybrid
The Signature model is the heavyweight of the three machines Soyang Europe is taking to Birmingham.
It is a 3.2m UV hybrid built to handle serious volumes of rigid and flexible work from the same printer. Platinum Technologies LIYU says it operates at speeds of up to 350m²/h using Ricoh printheads, but those numbers only tell part of the story. The reason to look at Signature is the breadth of work it is designed to absorb.
For a sign and display company, that means the obvious mixture of boards, banners, exhibition graphics, retail campaigns, backlits and general display production. White and varnish take it further into clear and coloured materials, while Platinum Technologies LIYU also positions the machine for décor, packaging and industrial applications.
The latter deserves some attention.
There is a point where wide-format printing stops being about putting graphics onto something and starts becoming part of the manufacturing process itself. Furniture panels, glass, interior surfaces, decorative components and customised products can all sit within that profitable production territory.
The Signature has been built for companies with enough work to exploit both sides of a hybrid. If rigid media dominates the factory, a dedicated flatbed deserves serious consideration. If almost everything arrives on a roll, there are dedicated machines for that too.
However, the target market for this machine is an established print producer with substantial mixed-media production and the workload to keep a machine of this class occupied.
The obvious comparison is with the Durst P5 350/HS and the Agfa Jeti Tauro H3300. However, the EFI VUTEk h5+ and EFI VUTEk M3h X also arguably belong on the same shopping list.
There is little value in turning this into a battle of brochure specifications. Different models and configurations bring different levels of speed, automation and capability.
The point is simpler. If you are currently considering one of those established industrial hybrids, Signature deserves an audition too.
The Print Show is a good place to see it physically, watch it running and decide whether that audition should happen. The proper evaluation comes afterwards, away from the exhibition hall, with time to investigate the machine properly at Soyang Europe’s demonstration centre in Altham, near Accrington.
That is where buying decisions at this level should be made.
Platinum Technologies LIYU KCXL
The KCXL is for a different set of production circumstances.
This is a dedicated UV flatbed, measuring 3050 x 2050mm, according to the current product literature, and is aimed squarely at rigid-media production. Key features include a top speed of 180sq m/hr on media up to 100mm thick, as well as a maximum print resolution of up to 2400dpi.
Its application range covers acrylic, wood, glass, MDF, signage, display, packaging, décor and customised industrial graphics.
For companies processing significant volumes of sheets, boards and other rigid materials, the flatbed format provides a straightforward production workflow. Materials remain fixed on the bed, allowing multiple pieces to be positioned together and printed in a single run.
For conventional sign and display businesses, it means applications such as retail graphics, exhibition panels, display boards and general signage. But the opportunities extend beyond traditional graphics.
The ability to print directly onto materials such as MDF, timber, glass and furniture components opens up applications in décor, interiors and industrial manufacturing. Rather than producing a graphic that is subsequently applied to a finished product, the print can become part of the product itself.
The KCXL should therefore interest two distinct groups:
The first is an established sign or display company that already has enough rigid work to justify a larger production flatbed; the second is a manufacturer or décor producer looking at digital printing as part of a wider customisation production process.
For buyers in the first group, the likely shortlist already contains some familiar machinery. SwissQprint Nyala 5 and JETRIX LXa8 are the closest references, with the EFI Pro 30f+ and even a base spec Durst P5 X also occupying relevant territory.
If Nyala, JETRIX, EFI or Durst are under consideration, the useful question is whether the Platinum Technologies LIYU KCXL deserves to be evaluated alongside them.
At The Print Show you can get a good initial overview. Look at how the machine is built, watch it handle boards, inspect the output, understand the workflow and meet the people who will be expected to support it.
If it still looks interesting after that, book the proper demonstration.
Soyang Europe is developing a dedicated Platinum Technologies LIYU showroom at its Altham operation specifically to give customers a more realistic environment for demonstrations, applications work and technical evaluation. Its engineering team has also undertaken additional product training in Germany. Spare parts are held in stock.
That investment matters rather more on a flatbed expected to work every day than another line in a specification table.
Platinum Technologies LIYU PCT LED
The PCT LED is the easiest machine here to place.
It is a 3.2m UV LED roll-to-roll printer targeted at companies producing flexible media in meaningful volume.
Platinum Technologies LIYU lists billboards, banners, signage, exhibition and retail graphics, backlit and frontlit work and general flexible-media production as its core applications. The maximum quoted production speed is 120m²/h.
There is no attempt to make the PCT something it isn’t. It prints rolls, and it is priced aggressively to the point of being disruptive. For the right business, that is precisely the attraction.
The 3.2m machine suits established sign companies, trade printers, retail graphics producers and exhibition businesses regularly running wide, flexible media. It can also sit alongside a flatbed or hybrid, taking routine roll work away from machinery that has other jobs to do.
Backlit work is an obvious application. So are high-volume banners, retail campaigns and exhibition graphics. White ink extends the range into clear and coloured films where the application requires it.
Its primary competition comes from the Agfa Anapurna RTR3200i LED and the EFI Pro 32r+. Additionally, the JETRIX XGR320, the Mimaki UJV55-320, the EFI Pro 33r and the Durst P5 350 HSR might equally be considered as competition within the 3.2m roll market.
There is a considerable spread of productivity, capability and investment level within that group, which is precisely why specification-by-specification comparisons rapidly become unhelpful.
Start with the business instead.
How much roll work do you have? What are you currently producing it on? Where are the bottlenecks? What quality does the work require? How much capacity would genuinely be used?
If a new 3.2m UV roll printer is already on the shopping list, the Platinum Technologies LIYU PCT LED belongs in the evaluation group.
The Print Show is just the introduction
The most interesting thing about Platinum Technologies LIYU in Britain at the moment is probably not any individual print speed.
It is the combination of the machinery and the new route to market.
Platinum Technologies LIYU brings an established manufacturing operation, a substantial international installed base, and equipment priced aggressively against many of the traditional manufacturers.
Over the past 20 years, Soyang Europe has built a great reputation for its excellent product range and outstanding customer service in its core media market; many UK businesses running industrial kit already know and trust Soyang.
More recently, Soyang added a UK hardware business. The engineers, application knowledge and the infrastructure needed to demonstrate and support the machines have all been invested in. Getting the GB distribution for Platinum Technologies LIYU is a perfectly natural progression; the fit is almost perfect.
Soyang is now investing specifically in Platinum Technologies LIYU as well. Its new dedicated showroom is being modelled on Platinum Technologies LIYU’s European Demo Centre in Düsseldorf, with machines installed for focused demonstrations and application testing rather than quick exhibition-floor conversations.
This all gives The Print Show a clear purpose as far as Platinum Technologies LIYU is concerned.
If you are already considering a Durst P5 or an Agfa Tauro, go and look at the Signature.
If Nyala, JETRIX, EFI or Durst flatbeds are on the list, look at the Platinum KCXL.
If the requirement is 3.2m roll production and Agfa, EFI, Mimaki, JETRIX or Durst are being considered, look at the Platinum PCT.
You don’t need to make the buying decision at the NEC; rather use the show to decide whether the relevant Platinum Technologies LIYU product deserves to stay on your shortlist.
If it does, the next appointment should be at Soyang Europe in Altham, with enough time to find out properly.
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