Hardware - Industrial Print

Israel-based Hameshalet Ltd has installed an HP Scitex FB7600 Industrial Press to expand the range of sign and display applications that it can offer its customers.  The company chose the HP Scitex FB7600 over other options available on the market for its high quality and fast printing speeds and will utilise the press’ multi-substrate capabilities to broaden its product portfolio and extend its range of services. The company will also transfer its existing line of applications, including banners, large format signage and vehicle graphics to the new press.

“We have seen a trend in the market for printing on rigid panels, and we wanted to maintain our competitiveness and be able to offer this additional capability to our customers,” said Leonard Kirshbom, printing manager, Hameshalet. “The increased number of applications achievable on the press will allow us to reach out to a greater customer base.”

Hameshalet, which has been an HP customer since 2009, successfully runs an HP Scitex XP2750 Printer and HP Scitex TJ8550 Printer. Following its positive experience with HP digital large format inkjet equipment, the company made the decision to expand with a new HP press.

“The quality of the HP Scitex FB7600 is very impressive, and affords us the ability to provide our customers with even higher quality products and fantastic results. We also like the press’ faster printing speed, which enables us to take on more work thanks to the increased turnaround times we can offer,” commented Leonard.

“Another key feature that attracted us to the HP Scitex FB7600 was the multi sheet loader option. This has definitely enhanced our productivity, and reduced set up times,” Leonard added.

The HP Scitex FB7600 delivers many enhancements to Hameshalet’s services, including printing speeds of up to 95 full-size sheets per hour (500m2/hr, 5380ft2/hr) with a POP production mode producing up to 55 sheets per hour. The press can handle a wide variety of media of up to 25mm thick, and has an edge-to-edge printing feature that allows final-size sheets to be printed, which eliminates the need for trimming, thereby saving substrates and reducing product damage through additional handling.

“The HP Scitex FB7600 meets all our needs for a new press – high quality, speed, and flexibility. With the press we expect to be able to improve our services and meet the increasing demands of our existing customers,” said Leonard.

[image shows Hameshalet's HP Scitex FB7600 wide format printer]

swissQprint has announced its latest innovation - a new Tandem Printing function that has been developed to keep the machine running non-stop and makes waiting times a thing of the past.  This new efficiency-boosting print mode is now available for all three of swissQprint's models - the Nyala, the Impala and the Oryx.

The tandem function is the ideal solution for anyone who requires the greatest possible output for continuous production. The principle is straightforward: load your precut sheets on the front of the flatbed table and start the print job. Immediately, while the machine is printing the first row of sheets, the operator loads more sheets on the rear half of the table. Once the first sheets are printed, the print carriage moves to the rear and continues printing. The operator unloads the printed sheets at the front of the work area and loads the next sheets. Production continues until the print run is complete - the machine works non-stop without interruption.

The new tandem function from swissQprint is designed for high production of precut substrates up to 760mm in height making it ideal for standard sizes such A4 ~ A1 or 600x900. The print job could be large runs of the same image, or differing images on every sheet such as in the case of variable data printing. Tandem is ideal when combining the digital process with screen or offset – allowing you to easily personalize large prints runs or apply special features like spot varnish.

The technology behind the application

To achieve such productivity and ensure the process would be simple to use and seamless required rethinking the manufacturing process and developing new automation features in the swissQprint Amber software. The printing table was divided into a front and rear vacuum zone. The front zone is active when a print job is running at the front; the same applies to the rear zone. Both zones can work completely independently or simultaneously, ensuring that precut sheets in Tandem mode, large panels of up to 3.2 x 4 metres in standard mode, or roll stock up to 3.2 metres wide in roll-to-roll mode can be processed easily.

Significantly more output

A practical test of a 1,000 panels carried out by an end user delivered a time saving equating to 37%.

Tandem operation comes as standard with the Nyala model from swissQprint and is available as an option for the Oryx and Impala models.

[photo shows swissQprint's Nyala machine]

Hull-based SignsDisplay.com is the first UK company to invest in Agfa’s new :Jeti Titan UV inkjet printer. This highly capable machine not only delivers high resolution quality and high production speeds but its unique design enables it to be upgraded in the field to meet customers’ changing demands for increased productivity and quality as their business grows.

The :Jeti Titan will play a major part in the comprehensive range of design and display products that SignsDisplay.com provides to customers throughout the UK, including major retailers, estate agents, property developers and government agencies.

“We chose the :Jeti Titan for a number of reasons. Firstly, for its size - it has a print area of 3x2 metres - then for its productivity - outputting quality prints at almost 200 m2/hr. We opted for the 36 print heads version - 32 printing colour plus four white - but in the future we have the option to upgrade the machine’s performance if we feel it is necessary. We could also increase the number of print heads to 40 or even 48 when required,” explains Mike Hitchman, managing director, SignsDisplay.com.

The :Jeti 3020 Titan is an upgradeable high-resolution production UV-inkjet printer offering customers a flat-to-roll option. It has the unique facility to increase the speed and capabilities as a business grows.  The Titan range starts with a 16 head unit delivering 1,087sqft/hr (101 m²/hr) and is field upgradeable with white, light colours, orange and more CMYK heads to 48 heads giving 2,098sqft/hr (195 m²/hr).

“I am delighted to have the Titan on board. The installation has gone very smoothly and the printer was up and running in just a couple of days. Agfa has shown that they understand our business and I look forward to building a long-term relationship with them,” Hitchman concludes. 

For more information on SignsDisplay.com, please visit www.signsdisplay.com

[photo shows the Agfa :Jeti 3020 Titan being delivered to SignsDisplay.com's premises]

HP will use Scanpack 2012 to demonstrate how packaging converters can drive business growth and extend their range of services to customers with the versatile, high-volume HP Scitex FB7600 Industrial Press.  The Scanpack event takes place at the Swedish Exhibition and Congress Centre in Gothenburg between 23rd and 26th October 2012.

Exhibiting on stand C01:40, HP will showcase the application and productivity-enhancing benefits of the HP Scitex FB7600 Industrial Press for the packaging sector, while highlighting the features that afford packaging converters and print service providers the flexibility to offer versatile solutions for customers. This includes the capability to produce cost-effective short runs, as well as versioned and personalised products.

Additionally, thanks to the FB7600 press' ability to print on a wide range of media, including paper and corrugated board, the device enables the production of retail POP/POS displays, CDUs (counter display units), FSDUs (free standing display units) and pallet displays.

"The HP Scitex FB7600 offers packaging converters the ability to expand their service offering and undertake new large-format printing applications that were previously out of reach," says Moshiko Levhar, HP Scitex EMEA business development manager. "Importantly, this helps them to react quickly to market opportunities while adding value to the packaging and services they can provide to both existing, as well as new customers."

Feature-rich platform for improved productivity

The versatility of the HP Scitex FB7600 Industrial Press means that it can be used for rigid and flexible applications with a high volume throughput of up to 95 full-size sheets/hour (500m2/hr, 5380ft2/hr) in production mode, and up to 55 sheets/hour in POP mode). This allows converters to reduce turnaround times and achieve highly efficient, cost-effective runs with output quality matching that achieved with offset/screen processes. The press' media handling ranges from 130g/m2 up to 25mm, enabling production of a wide variety of applications.

The HP FB7600 Industrial Press features a six-colour UV-curable HP FB225 Scitex Ink set, which provides excellent dot gain and an impressive colour gamut up to 600dpi resolution. This ink set is also crack and chip resistant, reducing damage during folding, and offering additional quality assurance in packaging and other applications.

Further workflow efficiencies and reduced operator intervention are achieved via ¾ automation, while an edge-to-edge printing feature  means that  final-size materials may be printed, eliminating  the need for trimming as well as reducing  potential damage through additional handling. Additionally, full pallet-to-pallet automation is now possible with the Hostert Automatic Loader, developed for the press by Hostert-Pro GmbH.

Specialist HP product managers will be on hand at Scanpack to offer advice and Information on the HP Scitex FB7600 Industrial Press, as well as other HP printers and presses for packaging applications.

More information is available at www.youtube.com/hpgraphicarts and www.facebook.com/HPdesigners or follow HP on www.twitter.com/hpgraphicarts.

Gigantic Color of Dallas, Texas, has been named as the 500th customer of EFI's GS series of VUTEk printers.  The company is acquiring an EFI VUTEk GS5000r five-metre, roll-to-roll UV printer which combines POP quality output with exceptional speed.

"We are pleased to be adding this outstanding printer to our production floor," said John Bowers, Sr., owner of Gigantic Color. "We were looking for a reliable, very fast work-horse machine and wanted to work with an industry leader, a company with the latest technologies and one capable of addressing every possible application need. EFI and the VUTEk GS5000r best meet those requirements. But we'll also be able to offer higher resolution images than anyone in the industry, unique multi-layer white ink printing, plus the MCS Warranty in partnership with 3M. With the new VUTEk printer, we can serve our existing customers better and faster, acquire new customers and develop new applications such as printing onto rolled styrene."

"Gigantic Color is the ideal location for the GS5000r," said Scott Schinlever, senior vice president and general manager of EFI's Inkjet Solutions. "We believe that Gigantic Color's highly creative team will be able to do amazing things with this printer to serve its broad customer base in Texas and across the nation. And we are very proud to have them as our 500th installation of the highly successful GS product line, which has only been in the market for a relatively short period of time. Gigantic Color will also be able to take advantage of the capabilities of the Fiery proServer in streamlining workflow and color management."

For more information about the VUTEk GS5000r powered by the EFI Fiery proServer, please visit www.EFI.com.

Josero’s says that its refurbished superwide printers for the professional inkjet market are proving exceptionally successful.  Since Sign & Digital UK 2012, where Josero promoted its range of refurbished printers, it has been inundated with enquiries and has sold a large number of machines.

Loic Delor, Managing Director of Josero comments, “We have seen significant growth in the superwide market over the past few months, it really has been astonishing.”

Printing companies are becoming much more savvy and understand that they can diversify or expand their product offering without breaking the bank. Josero's refurbished printers offer savings of at least 60% compared to brand new superwide printers and are covered by a warranty.

Josero says it can also help customers save on their ink costs by installing Triangle inks which offer substantial savings over OEM inks without compromising on quality. Savings are even greater when bulk ink feed systems are installed.

Loic continues, “Why would anyone want to spend hundreds of thousands of pounds when they can actually spend tens of thousands for virtually the same product? We have made several installations in the past 12 months and all of our customers have been very happy with both the product and service from Josero.”

For more information, please visit www.josero.com