Hardware

HP today announced that Exposize has purchased The Netherlands' first HP Scitex LX800 Printer with the aim of driving business growth via its high application and multi-substrate capability.

Serving customers mainly from the retail industry Exposize has become a one-stop-shop, for all types of printing projects and offers users a range of services including creative design, in-house finishing, assembly and installation. The company's  development is built around Exposize's strategy of providing diverse services and investing in adaptable equipment to accommodate its customers' ever-increasing requirement for flexible, high-quality digital print.

In order to enable its customers to choose from a wide range of applications and to select the best solution for their needs, Exposize currently prints on an extensive variety of over 60 substrates. The company will transfer orders for indoor signage to production on the 1200dpi, 3.2m wide LX800 printer, once it has been installed.

"Maintaining versatility is key to the way our company operates so it was vital that any new equipment that we invested in was able to uphold this objective," said Eric Verkerk, director, Exposize. "One of the biggest attractions of the LX800 is its high flexibility, which will enable us to produce the quality our customers want on a large variety of substrates including banners, self-adhesive materials, polyester fabrics, paper and specialty media."

Exposize's six-colour HP Scitex LX800 Printer uses water-based HP Latex Inks that offer performance comparable to eco-solvent and low-solvent inks, but do not require special ventilation equipment and contain no Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs) for odourless prints, ideal for producing applications where odour may be a concern.

"Retailers are increasingly looking for greener solutions for their printing requirements, with no drop in print-quality or increase in price," said Verkerk. "We decided to invest in an HP Scitex LX800 Printer after spotting a gap in our portfolio of production devices. We needed a printer that could attract customers who are environmentally conscious whilst maintaining the high-quality print needed for indoor applications or for items that would be viewed close up, at cost-effective prices. In our opinion, the LX800 fulfils all of these requirements and enables us to take the step towards offering our customers a service that helps reduce the impact on the environment."

In the near future, Exposize is planning to grow its business by offering its customers applications that are designed with the environment in mind, produced using recycled and recyclable PVC-free media printed on its HP Scitex LX800 Printer.

Exposize was formed in 2002 after two existing companies, Floor New Print and Vennep Prepart merged. The company currently employees 25 people across its two offices in Amsterdam and Eindhoven.

BD&H, Norwich, UK, has expanded its multi format print facility with the addition of a wide format Screen Truepress Jet2500UV printer.

True to its slogan 'The complete print and design service - under one roof' BD&H packs a huge amount of printing technology into its premises. It's a long established firm and provides a direct and trade service all over the country - and all with only 25 staff.

The secret of its success is the clever combination of print technologies linked with versatile working practices. Smart investment in the right machinery has allowed them to link both their litho and screen printing capabilities by being the first to install the revolutionary 5-colour KBA Genius 52 UV waterless press in the UK - litho printing onto vinyls, pvcs, polyprops etc up to 800mic. Large format products are printed using a powerful selection of digital UV, digital and screen printers.  With an on-site design studio and finishing facilities, BD&H truly offers a fast 360 degree service.  While many companies focus on a particular specialization, BD&H prefers to be as flexible as possible and this has proved to be a successful strategy.

The variety of materials the company can print on has opened up many commercial opportunities, explains director James Fox: "That's why we choose the Screen Truepress Jet 2500UV wide format printer. We needed a hybrid printer that could handle roll-fed and rigid substrates and deliver outstanding quality and this ticked all the boxes. Every piece of machinery we buy has to be as flexible as possible and this printer is ideal for many applications on a variety of substrates. Alongside our conventional plastic printing, with up to 2.5m print width by any length, we can digitally print in production mode up to fine art quality in CMYK plus white ink option onto virtually any substrate up to 40mm thick using outdoor durable UV inks to offer a genuinely flexible service."

The Truepress Jet2500UV is an extremely versatile large format UV inkjet printer with 5 and 7 layer printing and is able to produce outstanding grayscale quality work on a range of materials including the challenging corrugated cardboard and polypropylene for POP applications. It has the perfect balance of high quality and high productivity for the wide format market with near-photo quality printing and short turnaround times.  The ability to print multiple layers enables the production of sophisticated graphics such as images that can be viewed from both sides on transparent material.

"We are excited by the potential of the Truepress Jet2500UV," says James. "It offers us everything we need in one machine and prints everything we throw at it - roll to roll and flatbed and all at great quality. In addition to adding new levels of flexibility and quality, the printer has to be very reliable. Our customers are operating in time-sensitive environments and it's important we can meet strict deadlines. We often have to run 24 hours non-stop. Once we loaded up a roll on a Friday night and set it off and when we came in on Sunday morning it was printed perfectly."

Every machinery investment is undertaken with great care by James and his co-directors. "Each new piece of kit not only has to earn its place it has to drive the business forward," he explains. "Now we have the Truepress Jet we are expanding strongly into the specialist window graphics market and the accuracy allows us to produce two-way ContraVision graphics - not an easy thing to do."

The energy of the BD&H directors and staff has certainly been an important ingredient. They constantly review new products, materials and techniques to see how they will fit into the business. "We are careful about investment, but we have found that the secret to our success is to be as flexible as possible," says James. "If a customer wants a printed product - however challenging - we want to be in the position to say 'yes'."

Insight, the branded business of Prime Midia, and the first company who purchased an Inca Spyder 320 digital flatbed printer in Brazil, has improved quality as well as increasing productivity five-fold with the installation of Brazil's first Inca Onset S20.

Since 1997 Prime Midia, which operates under the Insight brand, has offered visual communications, print services, banners, billboards, building wraps and other POP materials in Brazil. This is significant, because research in Brazil shows that 85% of purchases are decided in-store, and POP is the most effective way to enhance the image of a product. The company strongly supports this philosophy and encourages their customers to recognise that no other media can deliver such a consistent exposure of brands and products.

"A few years ago, I purchased a 5-metre wide printer but, since then, the mayor has prohibited most outdoor POP advertising. I was left with nothing else to do with the printer," said Michele Cavalcanti, managing director of Prime Midia. "I was trained as a technician and had experience fixing and programming different printers, so I decided to buy a flatbed digital inkjet printer, instead."

After researching flatbed printers, Cavalcanti's Prime Midia was the first company in Brazil to buy an Inca Digital Spyder 320 (CMYK+white) wide format flatbed digital inkjet printer. While others believed it was too expensive, he believed in the productivity of the Inca Spyder 320. "Several competitors thought this was a foolish business decision, but I had spent a lot of time comparing printers. I knew it would provide a quick payback. As it turns out, buying the Inca Spyder 320 was the best decision I could have made," says Cavalcanti. "Fujifilm Sericol was very helpful and prompt to respond. Prime Midia grew, almost immediately. We started working 24/7 and never had any problem with the printer. It was very reliable."

With the Inca Spyder 320, Prime Midia was able to print a lot of higher quality materials than was capable in the past. It allowed Prime Midia to print a lot of display work for major consumer goods companies. "My company started taking large accounts with well-known branded product companies to print POP displays—mostly on corrugated, foam board and PS. The Inca Spyder 320 demonstrated that we could deliver better quality, faster than our competitors. In fact, today we are responsible for 80-90 percent of all their jobs."

Six to eight months after installing the Spyder, Prime Midia paid back its investment, while several competitors took note and invested in the same printer. Just two and a half years later, the Spyder 320 could not keep up with demand. About the same time, Inca Digital launched its Onset S20, and Prime Midia was first on FujifilmSericol's list in Brazil. They decided to buy an Inca Onset S20—again, the first in Brazil. It is a much faster machine and is capable of printing six colours: CMYK plus light cyan and light magenta, allowing Prime Midia to reproduce a wide gamut of colours very closely.

Prime Midia installed the Inca Onset S20 in August, and, although it is five times faster than the Spyder 320, they are already running it 24 hours a day. While they expected business to increase, they did not expect it to happen so quickly. It means that the machine will swiftly pay for itself, again. When the Onset S20 was installed, Brazil was in the middle of elections. While outdoor advertising is generally prohibited, it is permitted for political advertising-- and there were many opportunities for indoor and outdoor signs, including boards in the middle of the streets. Prime Midia has done a lot of work for political candidates, who have ordered thousands and thousands of outdoor PVC sheets. "We would never have been able to print them without the Inca Onset S20. If a customer needs 100 sheets in 2 days, we have to deliver. The market is very competitive," said Cavalcanti.

"I like the speed of the Inca Onset S20, along with the unique ability to print gloss and satin at the same time. Many people in Brazil like a gloss finish, and it is a way for me to cost-effectively keep ahead of the market," said Cavalcanti. "The Inca Onset S20 can also print thicker materials, as much as 5 cm. I can print a lot of unique jobs and unusual POP materials."

The lifetime of the UV lamps—1,000 hours—has been a very nice surprise. "That means that not only is the printer faster, but I can save money on the cost of lamps, which can be very expensive in Brazil," said Cavalcanti. "The Fujifilm Sericol inks are also more affordable for us, and they print very well. I cannot see any stepping between colours, caused by the direction of the printer, so can use the fast, bi-directional print modes."

"The Inca Onset S20 has been a very good choice. I am very happy with the Onset S20's speed and productivity. When you show customers what kind of work you can do with it, they think of new, unique displays," said Cavalcanti. "Digital print provides us the opportunity to do much more. The more I do, the more I find I need it."

 

 

FUJIFILM Dimatix, Inc. the world’s leading provider of inkjet printheads for industrial applications, today announced it has launched its new Emerald series piezoelectric drop-on-demand printheads for high-performance graphics applications.

Designated the Emerald QE-256/30 AAA and QE-256/80 AAA, the new 30-picoliter and 80-picoliter printhead models combine precise, high-speed multi-pulse binary jetting and versatile grayscale operation with a durable, field-proven metal nozzle plate that supports aqueous, UV-curable and solvent ink formulations. This construction was specifically chosen to accommodate broad variations in fluid jetting characteristics to facilitate development of new printer designs ideally suited to scanning architectures.

Based on the highly versatile Dimatix Q-Class platform, the new Emerald models feature 256 individually addressable channels arranged in a single row at 100 dots-per-inch spacing. The FUJIFILM Dimatix printhead design allows every jet to operate concurrently with low crosstalk and excellent channel-to-channel uniformity. This enables the printhead to achieve a high throughput rate without trading off drop placement accuracy and deliver precision jetting at full production speed.

This high-accuracy design coupled with a thin profile allows Q-Class printheads to be stacked in close proximity to each other, a feature enhanced with precision registration points that allow developers to nest multiple printheads and achieve high printing densities, while facilitating drop-in replacement.

These shared physical features and identical interfaces as other Q-Class products allow Emerald printheads to be intermingled with the same or complementary printhead models to provide developers with a multitude of configuration possibilities with unequal flexibility and functionality. Further, it allows systems designers to easily migrate their designs across many different printer models, price points and applications.

The Emerald QE-256/30 is designed to eject adjustable 30 to 80 picoliter drops in binary mode or a 30-picoliter fundamental drop in grayscale mode. The Emerald QE-256/80 is designed to eject adjustable 80 to 200 picoliter drops in binary mode or an 80-picoliter fundamental drop in grayscale mode. Operating at a nominal 8-meter/second drop velocity when jetting fluids in the 10 to 14 centipoise range, the new Emerald QE-256/30 operates at firing frequencies to 33 kHz while the Emerald QE-256/80 has a maximum operating frequency to 20 kHz. Both deliver drops with unparalleled jetting straightness.

Grayscale operation is made possible with Dimatix’ breakthrough VersaDrop™ jetting technology that enables uniquely flexible modes of operation including adjustable binary drop size and grayscale capability without impact to productivity.

The new Emerald printheads take their place next to the previously introduced Q-Class Sapphire and Polaris models. Sapphire printheads feature Dimatix’ advanced carbon-silicon hybrid construction that produces best-in-class jetting accuracy and are ideal for the aggressive fluids typically used in materials deposition applications. Sapphire, like Emerald printheads share multi-mode binary and grayscale operation. Polaris are general purpose, easy to use printheads with binary only operation. Taken in total, this extensive range of products provides solid evidence of the power and flexibility of the Q-Class platform.

With the growth in popularity for digitally printed textiles being seen in the UK, Roland DG has introduced the RS-640S, which is a dye sublimation version of its VersaArt RS-640. This 1.62 m (64 inch) unit produces high quality output which can then be finished using any heat press or calender.

"Typical textile applications include soft signage, flags, banners and home and commercial furnishings, and the compatible polyester-based fabrics are robust, light weight and versatile," explains Adam Wyles, Business Manager – Promo, Screen and Digital at Roland DG (UK). "Their durability and potential for recycling are complemented by completely odourless print using aqueous-based inks, making dye sublimation suitable for a wealth of interior and exterior jobs."

Roland's VersaArt RS-640S is an attractively priced entry-level option for sign-makers and display producers wanting to print to soft signage and textiles.  The package includes the printer, the take-up unit and a bottle unit.  The machine has a maximum resolution of 1440 x 720 dpi and incorporates Roland Intelligent Pass Control technology which eliminates banding in all print modes. Precise control of droplet placement results in smooth graduated tones and vivid solid colours, with production speeds of up to nearly 32 square m/hour.

The Roland VersaArt RS-640S dye sublimation printer includes a 1.62 m (64 inch) take-up system that complements its media handling system for stable performance. Prints output onto sublimation transfer paper are ready for the calendering process immediately, with the VersaArt's two-step integrated heater system controlling the temperature needed for optimum results. Individual settings can be saved in the printer, for later recall.

As with all Roland printers, the VersaArt RS-640S sublimation system includes the company's powerful VersaWorks RIP software which incorporates fully embedded ICC profile support, variable data printing (VDP), precise spot colour matching and advanced tiling, nesting and cropping features.

"Roland has now simplified the route into soft signage and textile printing with its VersaArt RS-640S printer, and this is a welcome move for sign-makers and display producers wanting to produce soft signs, flags, décor and home furnishings using this technology," concludes Wyles. "The benefit of high quality, colour accurate production can now be applied to a whole range of indoor and outdoor applications which can be produced onto polyester-based fabrics for lightweight, durable and eco-friendly results."

 

 

HP today announced that Simpson Group has invested in an HP Scitex FB7500 Printer to offer a short-run, high-quality, quick turnaround digital service for point of purchase  (POP) and point of sale (POS) applications.

Simpson Group was established in 1972 as a conventional screen printer. It operates from two production sites, its head office, based in Washington, Tyne and Wear and Heathrow, Middlesex, where it installed its new HP Scitex FB7500 Printer. Simpson Group specialises in the design and production of high-quality, branded in-store advertising for well-known retailers.

Offering its customers a range of screen, lithographic and digital capabilities, the company decided to purchase its new equipment after establishing that up to fifty percent of the jobs it was producing on its conventional equipment were ideally suited to digital production, with limited runs of between 150 to 250 copies.

The HP Scitex FB7500 offers high application versatility with its ability to print on both flexible and rigid media.  Offering a combination of adaptability and high-productivity it also has a range of features designed to maximise throughput. Its three quarter automation and the highly accurate and intuitive loading mechanism provide the productivity and efficiency needed to complete jobs quickly.

"We first invested in a digital printer eight years ago and since then we have seen the technology develop and mature as a robust industrial tool," said Mark Simpson, chairman, Simpson Group. "With our FB7500 there are no compromises on quality. With the printer's high levels of automation, we are able to get instant feedback, ensuring that colour consistency is easy to achieve. Other benefits to our customers include, fewer wasted prints - compared to conventional printing and streamlining our workflow by eliminating the lengthy process of plate-making for quicker turnaround times on short-runs."