Inca Digital has announced sales of the Inca Onset S20, its high-volume wide format inkjet flatbed printer, have exceeded expectations in North America. "Sales in North America reflect the positive results we are experiencing throughout the world. Globally, Inca Onset S20 business is going very well," said Dr. Linda Bell, CEO, Inca Digital.
Sold exclusively by Fujifilm, the Inca Onset S20 delivers high levels of productivity and versatility for production of superior quality retail graphics. Recent speed upgrades have boosted the Onset S20's throughput to 3330 sqft (62 full beds per hour), an increase of 24 percent over the original model. The Onset S20 offers a choice of white or light cyan and light magenta in addition to the standard CMYK configuration, and a variety of finishing effects, including matte, satin, and high gloss, on materials up to 123 inches x 63 inches, and two inches thick. Customers throughout North America have been very pleased with its performance.
Quantum Graphics Inc. in Shelby Township, MI, a specialty graphics shop that produces retail graphics for indoor and outdoor use, was one of the first facilities to install the Onset S20 in the U.S. "We needed the productivity," said Gerard Buczek, COO and Vice-President, "We had an Inca Columbia Turbo, and an Inca Eagle H, which are both very reliable machines. We chose the Onset S20 for the same reason we chose the others—we were primarily screen printers and are used to a flatbed register system. We run mostly indoor graphics—on styrene, 24-point board, lightweight board, and vinyl decals. We do more line colours than four-colour process. The Onset S20 has already brought in new business. With the light magenta/light cyan we can print a wider colour gamut to match Pantone and brand colours. We play around with the RIP for colour enhancement and can print a variety of gloss levels, which gets new clients in the door who are used to a litho or screen-printed gloss. We can run larger quantities--in the 500-600 range--without thinking twice. It's a natural fit for us."
Matrix Imaging, a large-format digital printer located in downtown Indianapolis, was familiar with Inca, owning an Inca Spyder 320 with CMYK before it installed its Inca Onset S20—a CMYK printer with white— in March. "We liked the Inca Onset S20's full bed array printing, which eliminates banding and adds speed," said Brian Freije, president of Matrix Imaging. "We produce POP displays in medium runs from 1,000 or less -- and unique specialty products, such as acrylics with white, and lenticular displays. The applications on the Inca Onset S20 are really endless; we have printed on styrene, gator foam, plywood and even ceiling tiles. We use the gloss effect often -- particularly spot gloss, which gives the look of varnish. The quality is great -- much better than screen printing and it allows us to compete with offset. It's an excellent machine, and delivers all-around savings."
DuraColor, Racine, WI, a high-quality graphics producer of OEM, retail, and fleet materials in the midwest, purchased an Inca Onset S20 CMYK plus white for faster throughput of wide-format products. DuraColor also operates a six-colour Inca Spyder 320 and Inca Eagle 44. "We produce high-end POP materials, and recent demand required us to produce more than the volume an hour that came off the Spyder," said Ralph Rhein, VP Operations. "We're already running two shifts nonstop with the Inca Onset S20, producing high-quality POP, foam, styrene, PVC chloroplast and vinyls. We create interior signs, mall graphics, aisle graphics and monthly promotions. Graphics include photos, four-colour process work, double sided materials, and lots of odd things--basically anything that ink sticks to and gets through the machine. If we didn't have the Inca Onset S20, we would have lost a good portion of a product rollout for a major company and split the work with other printers. It has been proven to be an excellent addition to all our company's G7 calibrated digital presses and it has delivered a large amount of revenue for us."
Miller Zell's Graphic Center in Atlanta bought an Inca Onset S20 Gloss CMYK plus white, looking to capitalise on the digital wide format machine's reduced make-ready and set-up time and costs. The Graphic Center, a leading-edge facility for wide and super-wide format printing of POP and other in-store signage, also has an Inca Spyder 320 (CMYK/ lc/lm/white) and rigid and roll-to-roll printers. "We have had a good track record with the Spyder 320 and wanted something that was capable of more press sheets per hour," says Ford Bowers, General Manager. "We are consistently getting up to 50 boards or more an hour with the Onset S20 with their automation, and with their new 12 pass mode are exceeding 60 boards per hour. We are primarily a screen printer, but the Inca Onset S20's capabilities put digital in the ballpark for us. With screen printing, the set-up and make-readies are expensive and the average number of sheets per job has decreased. A six-colour screen press requires crews of three-to-four people. Running the Onset S20 requires just one person. The savings in make-ready, labour and waste are phenomenal. We are running interior store graphics, printing anything from white text on coloured substrates to matching Pantones. Now that we have the Inca S20, we anticipate a tremendous competitive advantage and boost to bottom-line profit."
"The ability of the Inca Onset S20 to print a multitude of projects at a very competitive speed has made it an extremely attractive printer for sign and display shops," said Heather Kendle, Inca Digital Director of Marketing. "The Onset S20 has been an extremely competitive alternative to screen and offset printing. In fact, some of our customers have already invested in a second Onset."
