8 minute read
PRODUCTION INKJET
The year in review By David Zwang In general, commercial print volumes were affected more by the pandemic than packaging. However, for commercial print applications, production inkjet volumes held their own, and some applications saw modest growth. While production inkjet can displace toner printed pages, and has been for well over a decade, the lion’s share of the growth opportunity is offset pages, and that will continue for the foreseeable future. These recent press introductions are targeted at that volume.
Continuous Roll Fed
In 2021 there were not a lot of “new” roll fed presses, although many of the older inkjet presses are being replaced or upgraded. All of the press manufacturers offer some kind of an upgrade path, like new print heads, updated dryers or sometimes even a forklift upgrade. However this year there were two new notable introductions, the Canon ColorStream 8000 and the Kodak PROSPER ULTRA 520. A few of the other presses identified here were introduced for drupa 2020 and then 2021, both of which never happened, so they weren’t necessarily highlighted for the market to see this year.
Canon ColorStream 8000
The ColorStream 8000 is the latest release in a long line of ColorStream production inkjet presses dating back to the first generation ColorStream 3000 introduced in 2010. Like the other ColorStream models, the presses have a modular engine design with a footprint comparable to the ColorStream 6900. This year, two models were introduced: the ColorStream 8133 and the ColorStream 8160, operating at speeds up to 525 ft./min. With these introductions, they developed a new water-based high-pigment ink formula, which produces a wide gamut on uncoated papers
along with a high optical density black for high contrast. Other new developments include a low-maintenance integrated web cleaner, a unique new automatic print head cleaner, an energy efficient threezone drying system, and a camera system for web inspection and content control.
Kodak PROSPER ULTRA 520
Kodak developed the PROSPER ULTRA 520, targeted at commercial print. Using their Ultrastream printhead technology, the press delivers print quality comparable to 200 lpi offset on uncoated, coated, glossy and silk papers. It prints full-color four-over-four perfecting output with a scalable web width of up to 21 inches (533 mm) at speeds of 500 feet per minute (150 mpm). The press was designed to produce high-quality print at a compellingly low cost per page.
Canon ProStream 1000 Series
To increase their addressable market of existing offset pages, the ProStream is now available in two models, the ProStream 1000 and the ProStream 1800. The presses have a modular engine design, with the ProStream 1000 currently operating at 262 ft./min (80 m/ min) and the ProStream 1800 operating at speeds up to 436 ft/min (133 m/ mi) running 4/4. It supports media from 40 gsm to 160 gsm or 300 gsm at 80 m/ min with the “Heavy Paper Productivity Enhance” option. It uses the latest Kyocera KJ4B piezo electric drop ondemand print heads producing multilevel drop sizes of 2 – 5 pl at a native 1200 dpi (dots per inch).
HP T250 HD
HP PageWide production inkjet presses have been on the market for a while. This new model is targeted at commercial and publishing markets. The HP PageWide T250 HD press design is compatible with offset coated and uncoated media through the selective use of a new HP Optimizer along with a new “Brilliant Ink.” This was designed to bring PageWide presses to the level of media handling capabilities of some of the competing production inkjet presses.
Ricoh VC70000
With the introduction of the VC70000, Ricoh introduced a new larger color gamut aqueous ink. This new Ricoh ink is a “hybrid” ink that only uses 50% water and a proprietary mix of the other 50% of ingredients. This enables them to increase the density and better control the viscosity of the ink for better appearance and performance on a wide variety of media. The press can run up to 1200 dpi, with a paper thickness supporting 12 pt. stock and can be operated at up to 150 mpm (493 fpm).
Cut Sheet Fed
As I noted, run lengths are coming down, in many cases pretty dramatically. Read More…
Find article at PrintingNews. com/21157533
According to a study I did a while ago, most commercial print service providers inventory an average of eight different paper stocks that they always have on hand. And of course, sometimes they get special requests outside of those standard stocks. If you are a commercial printer producing relatively short runs, even if it is 1,000 or 2,000 units, that means you have to frequently change stocks. It is a lot easier to move cut sheets than rolls of paper around, which is one of the reasons why inkjet adoption for commercial print has lagged. What we have been waiting for was the emergence of sheetfed inkjet presses.
varioPRINT iX
Canon was very successful with their i300 a3+ press. The new platform, the varioPRINT iX, builds on the experiences of Canon and their customers with the current i-series platform. The emphasis in the development of this new platform was to create a commercial printing press that could produce high quality printing with readily available untreated commercial substrates, and produce it at a very competitive cost. There are four main technology innovation areas: paper transport, quality control, ink innovation and drying technology.
Fujifilm J Press 750S
The J Press 720, launched at drupa 2012, looks a lot like a “normal” sheetfed offset press if you look at the feeder and delivery ends of the machine. However, that is where the similarity ends. The 20”x 29” four-color format was designed to fit into an existing pressroom as a new addition or offset replacement. In this new fourth generation of the J Press, Fujifilm recently announced a new 750S high-speed model sheet-fed digital inkjet press with output speeds of 5,400 B2+ sheets per hour (sph).
Ricoh Pro Z75
While it is not shipping yet, Ricoh knew that this press had to be a game changer. So as a late comer, how do you compete with both the existing B2+ and A3 presses in the market at the same time? Ideally, you need to create a lower cost B2+ press, that will deliver the productivity and print quality that Ricoh is known for, at a price that will compete with the A3 presses in the market. The press quality is achieved through the use of Ricoh printheads with dynamic drop sizes it would need to support a resolution of 1200 dpi. It uses their aqueous pigment ink along with Ricoh’s inhouse developed drying technology, which if similar as evidenced in the VC70000, is one of the most efficient available today.
The AccurioJet KM-1 development started with Komori well before drupa 2012, where it was introduced as a technology demonstration. The KM-1 is a 23 x 29 1/2 B2 + UV sheetfed inkjet Press, which supports six letter pages vs. only four up on a straight B2-sized press. It has a wide media latitude without the need for any precoat since it is UV. The updated KM-1e operates at 3,000 sph and is an excellent candidate for producing photobooks and greeting cards.
Landa S10 – While they may have been quiet, they have also been very busy. This innovative B1production offset inkjet press currently operates at a fixed 6,500 sph, which is the standard speed that was initially promised. Even at 6,500 sph, it is faster
David Zwang specializes in process analysis, and strategic development of firms involved in publishing and packaging across the globe. Contact him at david@zwang.com.
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