The Inkjet Ipex: Inkjet Takes Center Stage

THERE WAS a huge collective sigh of relief when visitors from all corners of the world began pouring into Ipex in Birmingham, England, last month. Packed demonstrations and earnest conversations contributed to a tentative feeling of optimism at the show that, at last, the economic crisis is passing. Visitors were talking about plans to upgrade equipment and to invest provided, of course, that they can attract the financing.

There's no question that inkjet was the hot ticket at Ipex, and thus is the primary technology focus of this article (look for continued Ipex new product coverage in future issues of Printing Impressions). Kodak's Prosper 5000XL color inkjet web press, featuring its Stream technology, performed flawlessly to packed audiences. It was announced that King Printing, Lowell, MA, will install a new Kodak Prosper 1000 monochrome press in August, with plans to upgrade to a Prosper 5000XL in early 2011.

For HP, the new T200 color inkjet web machine drew most of the attention at its booth. This is a new design of the press platform offering a range of options, from single to full color, across a 520mm (201⁄2˝) web. The web path is designed to move the paper without turning it through the two print modules on the press, then a dryer and into the finishing section. HP has achieved this in the footprint that might have been taken up by a mono digital press, making replacement of older systems a literal shoo-in.

That the user can specify a black-only version, and then later choose to add color, is also intended to make the investment decision easy.

HP announced during the show that Los Angeles-based O'Neil Data Systems, the first print service provider in the world to install a 30˝ T300 press in 2008, will beta test the new T200 this summer. The T200 will begin shipping early next year, and will also be available through the Pitney Bowes channel.

By that time, Xerox may have customer placements of its solid inkjet press that, like the T200, was an almost unexpected announcement for the show. It was described as a technology demonstration, but Xerox has been consulting closely with customers, and testing the impact of the solid ink technology on inserting and mailing lines. The initial press will likely be positioned as a direct mail or transactional machine printing on lightweight and poorer grade uncoated papers, where Xerox believes the ink technologies used by HP and Kodak create too much show-through.

However, the company says quality will not match iGen standards, nor even it seems that of the continuous-feed 980 press, which uses a flash fusion toner technology. At least not yet. The message from Xerox is that the 490/980 line continues: "We don't have plans to end-of-life that product right now."

The printing quality that Kodak Prosper is capable of is not in doubt, nor any more that of the HP T300. A collection of T300 samples, chained to the table to prevent them from disappearing, included a full-color book printed on NewPage's 80-lb. Inkjet Gloss stock. Sappi and UBM have also announced development of coated papers for inkjet presses.

The sheetfed inkjet machines from Screen and Fujifilm were on adjoining stands at Ipex so visitors could compare the single-sided, faster Fujifilm Inkjet Digital Press with the duplex printing Screen Truepress Jet SX.

The attraction of the Fujifilm press blocked the aisles with visitors wanting to glimpse what could be the first view of the future of printing. The machine on display was very much a prototype; the first beta machines are in Japan awaiting shipment in June. These will be followed by the initial batch of 10 presses for Japanese customers at the end of this year, and only then will printers outside the country get to use it.

The machine appears adaptable enough to expand to a B1 sheet and more than four colors. The design of the vacuum system used to hold the paper within 1mm of the print heads means that each press can only operate with four or five paper formats, the minimum being 352x542mm. Paper weight is between 100 and 300gsm (though this is likely to be conservative) and coated grades only, for the moment at least.

Screen's press is more flexible because the paper travels in a vacuum tray driven by linear motors to avoid any vibration that could disturb droplet placement. The heads are moved up and down to maintain the ideal distance from the paper surface. Screen already has presses at beta sites and expects to ship production units this year. The exhibitor was careful, as well, to ensure that samples did not disappear too easily into the hands of technicians from rival suppliers.

These presses may create a new market in the space between the B3 digital presses, offering greater productivity and the ability to print larger formats, and litho presses designed for shorter runs. Typical of the latter is the Heidelberg Anicolor 52, which is now available as a UV press printing waterless. The aim is rapid startup with waste kept down to a maximum of 20 sheets, and often half of that.

Heidelberg continues to talk about partnering with one or more digital press suppliers but, while no doubt engaged in behind-the-scenes talks, has been giving nothing away.

Heidelberg CEO Bernhard Schreier explained that the issue is one of making sure that digital quality matches that of the offset process. "We will be coming up with a range of relevant solutions for our customers," he said at the start of the show.

The most interesting entrant into the race to fill the production gap between 500 to 2,000 sheets is the Presstek 75DI, the first time the company has designed and supplied a four-page (31.02x23.62˝)digital offset press. It has a new single lens imaging system, which achieves accurate imaging across the width of the machine and is key to achieving a six-minute turn from one job to the next.

Jeff Jacobson, CEO, reckons that while the 75DI is competitive and profitable at these short runs and up to 20,000 copies, it is most profitable at 8,000 to 9,000 sheets where cost is one penny a page.

The company has put into place a more complete distribution network than before to take it beyond strongholds in the United States and key European markets like the UK. It is also planning to take a bigger slice of the conventional offset market with the launch of the Aeon thermal plate into what Jacobson has described as a $4 billion opportunity.

There lies the nub of the industry today. Despite the vast space given to the digital printing technologies at Ipex, the majority of printing is going to continue to be done by offset means. It was a point made by Xu Jianguo, chairman of Shanghai Electric, who dropped into the show to look over Goss, which will shortly become a fully owned subsidiary. His message was that the marketplace needs the commitment that Shanghai can bring to reinforce Goss as an innovation leader in the industry.

Jianguo said that as parts of Asia continue to develop, educational standards will grow—and with them, reading—which will lead to greater consumer spending on this newly acquired skill. This will drive demand for books, magazines and newspapers, as well as for packaging and other printed materials. Consequently, while Shanghai Electric is analyzing the digital market, its commitment is to offset printing serving a global market.

His confidence chimed with the overall feeling that in 2010, as evidenced by Ipex, the printing industry can start to put the spring back into its step. PI

About the Author

Gareth Ward is a European-based journalist who has been writing about developments in the printing industry for more than 25 years. This is the seventh Ipex he has attended.