Being a large and growing print show, the demand for hotel rooms for Drupa seems to get worse every time. True, Dusseldorf has a ‘Fairs Fair’ scheme, where hotels don’t exceed their rack rates for the show, but the rooms still get booked up years in advance. I’ll be staying one hour’s drive away and still paying over the odds. So you have to book in advance, without knowing what will be shown. Will there be exciting new technology? Or will it just be the demo machines from Drupa 2008 now ready for production?
My interest is inkjet technology, and 2008 was meant to be ‘Inkjet Drupa’, so what will this one be? In 2008 we saw the launch of the HP web press technology, new web and sheet fed inkjet, the Fujifilm Dimatix Samba Printhead. What could possibly be new and interesting at Drupa 2012? Have I booked 4 nights hotel for nothing?
No I haven’t. Here are just some of the new developments that have been pre-announced:
Delphax will be launching the Memjet-based Elan press, which prints at 250 A4 pages/min. at 1600 x 1600 doi, or 500 ppm at 1600 x 800 dpi. It prints CMYK + 2 spot colours.
Eastman Kodak Prosper 6000 XL press using the Stream continuous inkjet technology, running at 1,000 feet/min., that’s 5 metres/sec. The press is rated at 160 M A4 impressions/month, and is claimed to be up to 45% more cost effective than thermal DOD and 31% better than its own Prosper 5000 XL press.
Epson will be showing the Surepress X single pass label press using LED UV-curable inks.
Fujifilm will add a B2 inkjet carton press using UV inks to its Jetpress 720 sheet-fed press, and also launch an inkjet web press running at 127 m/min.
Impika are launching a range of machines, the fastest being the iPrint eXtreme at 375 m/min. at 1200 dpi and a print width of 711 mm.
KBA Rotajet 76 is a joint development with RR Donnelley and uses Kyocera piezo printheads to print at 150 m/min. at 600 dpi. Over 30 inches wide. RR Donnelley also has the Apollo technology, which uses inkjet to form a temporary hydrophobic or hydroplillic image on a plate like material, which is then conventionally inked. Readers of the Pivotal Resources Directions inkjet patent reports will be familiar with this technology, which may (or may not) see the light of day.
Konica Minolta KM1 is a B2 sheet-fed ink jet press developed in collaboration with Komori. It uses new 1200 dpi KM piezo printheads to print at 3300 sheets/hour.
Landa Labs Nanographic technology should be easily the biggest launch. Claimed to use liquid ink based on nanoparticles and ink ejectors, it is claimed it will print on to a wide range of substrates without pre or post treatment. This past week has seen the announcement of Komori and MAN Roland as licensees.
MGI Digital Graphic Technology Alphajet B2 sheet-fed press has 6 colour units plus a varnish with a throughput of 3,000 sheets/hour at 1200 dpi.
Screen has increased the spec. of the Truepress SX to handle cartonboard, and is rumoured to have a label press with its own inkjet heads.
Timson T-Press book press uses the Kodak Stream technology on their own paper feed mechanisms, and prints on paper up to 53 inches (1.35 m) wide at 650 feet/min. It’s aimed at printing between 5-14 million books per year.
So is that all? Well HP will be showing their production inkjet web presses, and Xerox hasn’t announced anything but will draw the crowds with Cirque du Soleil. Canon and Océ will be showing the ColorStream 3700 ink jet press. And apologies for not including all of the other companies launching new ink jet products, peripherals etc.
Beyond inkjet there’s also plenty to see.
HP Indigo is launching a B2 sheet-fed press, the 10000.
Kodak’s Nexpress has a electrophotographic press with a 5th unit capable of printing gold, neon pink or fluorescent colours.
Miyakoshi will show a press using the HVT (high viscosity toner) liquid toner technology in conjunction with Ryobi.
Xeikon will show its Quantum technology as a demonstration, also believed to be based on HVT technology.
So, look out for me in the aisles, see you there!
Mike Willis, Pivotal Resources