Prodigi’s search for fast and high quality service!

Prodigi Group (prodigi.com) is a technology and manufacturing business specialising in the creation and fulfilment of high-volume, custom products. The Group’s mission is to help companies selling personalised products such as fine art prints, canvases and stickers to simplify their supply chains and maximise their profits. This is achieved through a combination of internally developed API software (pwinty.com) and a hybrid production model which coordinates among others, in-house manufacturing such as printing and cutting.

The challenge


Over the years, Prodigi experienced significant increases in order volumes resulting in large numbers of prints and posters needing to be cut faster and more efficiently. Manual processes had traditionally ensured high production standards but this approach was extremely time-consuming and Prodigi realized they must change quickly in order to keep up with an increasingly fast-paced world. Therefore, Prodigi contacted the U.K.-based Summa distributor Art Systems

The solution


Prodigi had already encountered Summa a few times at various shows and was aware of their high-quality portfolio. However, Summa’s barcode workflow enabled the system to automatically recognize and process the job, which caught Prodigi’s eye and convinced them to purchase a Summa flatbed finishing system, the F1612.

The barcode workflow is the main reason for acquiring the Summa F1612 and really makes an enormous difference in the speed at which our products are processed. We don’t need to worry about any of the settings anymore, because that’s all done automatically. User intervention is decreased to an absolute minimum now. Thanks to creating a barcode system and a well-thought-out pricing policy, the investment in a Summa flatbed finishing system was quite small compared to the huge benefits it offers. Moreover, Summa being the only company that makes both flatbeds and roll-to-roll cutters, also meant a big advantage from a workflow point of view”.

Production has grown significantly

This article was originally written in 2018 when they purchased their third flatbed cutter. Since then, the company's yield has grown significantly, so the purchase of a fourth F1612 flatbed cutter was soon required. To date, the company houses no less than three Summa F1612 flatbed cutters in their facility in Venlo (The Netherlands) and two Summa S2T160 roll cutters. In their Farnham (UK) factory, Prodigi employs another F1612 flatbed cutter and two S2T160 machines. 

Along with the Summa cutters, Prodigi has multiple printers in their production facility, among others HP Z Series DesignJet Printers and an HP Latex 560 Printer. This impressive setup enables the company to produce high volumes in-house. Prodigi is very positive about their investments:

“The S2T160 proved itself to be a very reliable roll-to-roll cutting machine, able to cut 50 metres in one go and more. Especially the ease and speed of the roll cutter are truly unrivalled. Combining the Summa F1612 flatbed finishing systems with the Summa S2T160 roll cutter results in a smooth cutting workflow. Moreover, our dedicated printers match perfectly with the Summa cutters. This enables us to work more efficiently, increase yield and save our machine operators a lot of time. In short, the ideal print&cut workflow anybody dreams about!"

Back in 2018, the Chief Operating Officer, Steve Levin said: “Furthermore, as demand is skyrocketing and many customers want their products to arrive the same day, we will need more capacity to be able to meet these demands. A purchase of another Summa F Series flatbed finishing system is therefore in the pipeline very shortly”, says Steve Levin, Chief Operating Officer”. That clearly turned out to be true!

The turning of the tides


Prodigi is always looking for means to increase productivity and get the products faster to their end-users. As soon as the first Summa F1612 was installed by Art Systems, the benefits were instant. Acquiring the Summa F1612 flatbed finishing systems helped them to speed up productivity substantially and boost the overall quality of the products they create.

“Prior to the arrival of the Summa F1612 everything was cut by hand and this situation extended lead times and caused workflow issues. The Summa F1612 flatbed cutters enabled us to substantially reduce the turnaround times on jobs that were previously cut manually”.

The tools on the F1612, providing Prodigi with the high-quality cut they uphold, are the Kiss-cutting tool, the Double-Edge knife and occasionally the Heavy-Duty tool. Step by step, Prodigi is developing the versatility of the machine. The potential of what they can produce is wider than ever and yet still they are experimenting on getting the most out of the flatbed’s numerous possibilities.

“The variety of substrates the F1612 can cut, combined with its ease-of-use, robustness and reliability make it an absolute winner and a real asset to our machine arsenal. Having used the F1612 for a while now makes us wonder why we haven’t purchased it sooner!”

For more information about Summa’s professional flatbed finishing systems, the F Series, visit www.summa.eu/f-series

To view this content, you need to accept functional cookies.
Change cookie preferences