Digital print continues to develop and improve
Digital dreaming
While digital print has been around for some time now, development and innovation with these technologies shows no signs of slowing down, with exciting new products coming to market on a regular basis.
We have seen that, despite the disruption of Covid-19 over the past 18 months or so, this has not deterred manufacturers from working to develop the next big thing in digital print, with a whole host of new solutions being rolled out.
Here, we take a look at some of the latest digital print machines available to the industry and consider how these technologies can help print-service-providers (PSPs) expand their business.
Impressive innovation
First up, Epson recently announced the launch of its first resin wide-format printer designed for décor, wallpaper, signage and many other applications. The SureColor SC-R5000 runs 100% water-based inks and, as such, offers significant environmental benefits to the user, according to Phil McMullin, sales manager for ProGraphics at Epson UK.
Epson’s new SureColor SC-R5000 runs 100% water-based inks, which the manufacturer says offers significant environmental benefits to the user
“The SureColor SC-R5000 has all the environmental approvals to appeal to the big corporate social responsibility-sensitive brands,” McMullin says, adding: “Aimed at the signage and décor markets, the printer sees Epson deliver solutions for the graphics market covering all inks sets from aqueous, eco-solvent, UV, dye-sub, direct-to-garment, direct transfer film and now the new resin.”
O Factoid: Epson’s new SureColor SC-R5000 is its first resin wide-format printer O
McMullin says such are the advancements in digital print that PSPs must ensure they are upgrading their kit on a regular basis if they are to take advantage of these developments when producing work for customers.
“Digital printing equipment from the key manufacturers continues to deliver innovation at an impressive rate,”
Digital printing equipment from the key manufacturers continues to deliver innovation at an impressive rate”
McMullin says, adding: “These innovations can deliver significant gains to PSPs in many areas such as productivity, ease of use, flexibility, reliability and total running costs.
“The potential gains in these areas essentially distil down into two keys areas for PSPs – the ability to win more business and making your existing business more profitable. Generally speaking, older equipment will cost more in total to run than the latest technology.
“For example, the latest generation of Epson eco-solvent printer uses around 30% less ink than previous models and the ink retails for a much lower cost per ml. So, if you are charging your customer the same fee for the job, you are immediately making more profit.”
Removing barriers to entry
Elsewhere and Xeretec, the largest partner of Xerox in Europe, has seen demand rise for Iridesse technology. Mark Parsons, production print specialist at Xeretec, says that as this technology has developed, it is now possible to print metallics or fluorescents, white or clear dry ink and on a sheet up to 1.2m.
Mark Parsons, production print specialist at Xeretec, says demand for Xerox Iridesse kit has continued to increase
“Wisely, this has been rolled out lower down the range, so the smaller print operations who wish to add value can do so at a level which is easily affordable to them, giving them an advantage over their competitors,” Parsons says.
“This is not forgetting the importance of CMYK production which still underpins most of our customers businesses. The embellishments are additional opportunities which, create new value discussions with existing customers and allow printers to generate conversations with new customers that were not possible previously.
In the inkjet market, Parsons says that the sheetfed Xerox Baltoro offers a flexible and cost effective way of producing print and often at a fraction of production costs of Xerography.
“The historical barrier to entry into this sector used to be the high capital cost of the inkjet devices themselves, as well as their inability to print on coated stocks,” Parsons explains, adding: “The Baltoro has removed such barriers and the new Colour Accelerator technology means that high quality inkjet on coated stocks is now possible and without the need to precoat stocks that other competing technologies often require.
“The upshot is that commercial printers are now considering such an investment to replace or compliment existing traditional offset production. It is all about making your business more flexible in a market where you need to be increasingly multifaceted to survive and prosper.”
Parsons follows on from this by saying that the dangers of standing still in the digital print market are that machinery can become outdated and as technology advances, productivity can often be significantly improved by updating equipment.
“Often the production costs of newer technology means that the economic impact of replacing more frequently can make you more profitable,” he says, adding: “Likewise, the ability to finish print jobs in line can also improve margins on jobs where multiple handling of jobs potentially erodes margins.
“The latest machines offer a myriad of finishing solutions. Reducing touchpoints maximises the profitability of every job, and the more automation that is involved the more jobs you can produce per shift and crucially with fewer staff.”
Upgrade and evolve
Another manufacturer that pushed ahead with development during the pandemic is Intec, with a number of new solutions having come to market in recent times. Mark Baker-Homes, director of research and development at Intec, says while it is important to upgrade your digital equipment, this may not be a case of changing your digital equipment, but instead adding to it and evolving your production line-up.
Mark Baker-Homes, director of research and development at Intec, says adding to your digital equipment, rather than changing it, can help evolve your production line-up
“At Intec, we see forward-thinking companies embrace change,” Baker-Homes, says, adding: “These companies use what they are already skilled at, and good at, then add or upgrade their equipment and evolve to offer their customers something new, but still based on their area of expertise.
“As they are not moving far outside their comfort zone, this evolution helps them create new and exciting business, bring older customers back and ensure they retain clients, thus increasing their customer base and continue to offer what their customers want.”
With this in mind, Baker-Homes highlights a number of new innovations from Intec that can be added to digital printing production lines to enhance output and expand options. These include the new ColorCut SC5000, an automatic sheet die-cutter, a crossover product that he says is the first of its kind.
Intec says upgrading digital print production with solutions such as its ColorCut SC5000 automatic sheet die-cutter will expand a PSP’s service options
The auto sheet feeder holds up to 1,000 sheets or 15kg of media and uses a four-point feeding system to pre-separate sheets, vacuum pick up, job the picked up sheet to make sure it is not a double, then advance it.
“What we wanted to achieve with this product was unattended automation of die-cutting light card-based products or labels,” Baker-Homes says, adding: “Customers can design their jobs and apply a QR code to identify it during the design process with the included software.
After the job has been printed through their normal digital print workflow they simply load the SC5000 up with jobs and leave the system to run.”
Also new is the FB8000 PRO MK2 digital die-cutting solution that built on the success of its sister model the FB8000. Baker-Homes says the latest model offers “true automated digital die-cutting” to customers and comes at a low investment cost, making it affordable and easy to adopt with prices under £10,000 for a fully automated system.
Emerging technologies
Elsewhere and Canon has delivered a number of new technologies over the past 12 months, including the varioPRINT iX-series, ProStream 1800 and ColorStream 8000 series. Chris Aked, business development manager for Canon’s production printing products, says the decision to stay with older kit or to move to newer digital forms of printing ultimately depends on the needs of the printer and its customers.
Canon’s ProStream 1800 can run at speeds of up to 133m/min
“As new technologies continue to emerge, it’s increasingly important for print companies to have the ability to stay competitive – the upgrading of print portfolios is therefore an important consideration,” Aked says.
“Printers must also ensure their investments are future proofed and sustainable for the long term. Over recent years, we have seen digital printing developing at a rapid rate and inkjet solutions can now offer speed, cost efficiency, flexibility, and quality.
“The market moves at a fast pace, and naturally customers will move with it. Older kit still has a place within a printer’s portfolio, but its value is largely dependent on its functionality and overall running costs versus the volumes produced and the quality of output.”
Looking at the latest solutions available from Canon, the varioPRINT iX-series is a cut sheet inkjet system that can print over 9000 SRA impressions per hour with uptimes in excess of 90%. The varioPRINT iX-series can produce Fogra-standard prints and can print on standard offset coated and uncoated media.
The ProStream 1800 offers high resolution and print quality at speeds of up to 133m/min. The device can also print on a wide range of media such as standard offset coated, uncoated and inkjet optimised papers from 40gsm to 300gsm.
In addition, Aked says the new ColorStream 8000 series has been designed to meet both the current and future production challenges of corporate and public sector in-plants, print and communication service providers, and specialised commercial printers.
“A number of features on the device have been automated, making it exceptionally easy to operate,” he says, adding: “The series also includes new 1,200dpi printheads that yield a stunning and consistent print quality.”
Digital print remains one of the most exciting segments of the print industry, with the level of innovation and advancements here suggesting there is still much more to come from this technology.
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