LFP - Large-Format-Printing

Giving Made in Italy stationery a distinctive touch with Mimaki UJF Series

Friday 25. September 2026 - For Italian company Arda S.p.A., innovation has never meant moving away from its roots. Founded in 1935 and now led by the third generation of the Bonini family, the company has built its identity around Italian manufacturing, producing stationery, technical drawing supplies and office products from its site in Peschiera del Garda, Verona. In a market that has changed significantly over the decades, Arda has made a clear choice to continue investing in production in Italy, while evolving the way its products are designed, manufactured and presented to customers.

Adding originality to everyday products
Arda’s core business is plastic moulding for the school and office sectors, a field where reliability, functionality and production efficiency are essential. Yet even in a category built around practical everyday objects, visual appeal has become an increasingly important differentiator.

The company began exploring digital decoration with a simple but highly recognisable product: the ruler. By adding colour, graphics and customised designs, Arda was able to transform a standard item into something more distinctive, opening the door to new possibilities across its wider product range. “For us, personalisation is not simply a decorative element,” says Francesco Bonini, Managing Director at Arda. “It is a way to add value to products that are part of everyday life, making them more attractive, more recognisable and more reflective of what the market is looking for. The positive response we received encouraged us to continue in this direction and extend digital decoration to other product lines.”

What started as a way to differentiate selected products soon became a broader production opportunity, extending to items such as pencil sharpeners and other stationery products.

Choosing technology that fits the production model
To bring this capability in-house, Arda invested in Mimaki UJF Series flatbed UV printing technology, supported by Bompan, Mimaki’s exclusive importer for Italy. Bompan’s application and technical expertise helped Arda identify the most suitable configuration and integrate the technology effectively into its production environment.

Arda first introduced a Mimaki UJF-6042 and later added a second system, a Mimaki UJF-6042 MkII, to expand capacity and support growing demand for decorated and personalised products. The decision was guided by a practical need: finding a solution that could deliver the quality required by Arda while fitting smoothly into its established manufacturing workflow. Today, the company operates two Mimaki UJF systems, allowing a single operator to manage both machines simultaneously and increase overall output without adding unnecessary complexity.

This workflow is further supported by customised jigs, which help ensure accurate positioning, faster loading and repeatable results across production runs. For a manufacturer like Arda, where efficiency, productivity and consistency are central to daily operations, this has become a key benefit.

The ability to use white ink effectively has also proved important. On coloured or transparent plastic materials, white can be essential to achieving strong, vivid and accurate graphics. “White ink is very important for many of our applications, and one of the key advantages of the Mimaki UJF Series is that it can be printed simultaneously, without slowing down production,” says Bonini. “This allows us to achieve the level of quality we need on coloured and transparent materials, while maintaining the productivity required in our manufacturing process.”

Productivity and quality working together
For Arda, the value of the Mimaki UJF Series lies in the balance between productivity and quality. The company currently achieves around 14 to 15 boards per hour on each machine, a level of output that meets its production requirements while supporting the high visual standards expected from a Made in Italy product. “The initial choice, made with a degree of caution, proved to be the right one – and I would make the same decision again today,” says Bonini. “In fact, the results we achieved with the first Mimaki UJF system encouraged us to invest in a second one. Our focus is on productivity and quality, and with these machines we are able to meet both requirements.”

This combination is important because Arda is not using digital printing as a separate creative experiment. It is integrating it into a real manufacturing process, where reliability, repeatability and ease of operation matter just as much as colour and design.

The technology enables the company to respond with greater flexibility to market requests, produce customised or differentiated product lines, and maintain control over quality directly within its own facility.

Supporting Made in Italy manufacturing
Arda’s investment in digital printing is also closely connected to its broader business philosophy. In a sector where many companies have shifted production to lower-cost markets, Arda has continued to manufacture in Italy. This choice is both strategic and cultural. It allows the company to offer recognised product quality, maintain greater control over production and respond more quickly to changes in demand.

“I believe one of the things that distinguishes our company today is the determination to keep production here in Italy and to continue investing in making that production as efficient and cost-effective as possible,” says Bonini. “Our customers reward us for this, because they recognise the quality of the products we manufacture.”

For customers, this means more than simply buying an Italian-made product. It means working with a manufacturer that can combine industrial experience, flexibility and the ability to create customisable products without relying entirely on external supply chains.
Digital printing supports this approach by giving Arda an additional tool to innovate from within its own production environment.

Tradition, innovation and the future of stationery
Arda’s story shows how a historic manufacturer can renew its products without losing the identity that made them successful in the first place. “Arda shows how digital printing can bring fresh creative possibilities to established products,” says Rachele Bompan, CEO of Bompan Srl. “By integrating Mimaki UJF Series technology into its production process, the company has brought new creativity to familiar objects, combining colour, personalisation and visual impact with the productivity and quality standards required by industrial manufacturing.”

For Arda, it is another step in a long Made in Italy journey, one where tradition and digital innovation work side by side.