Bruce Peddlesden picks up the pace to high-speed inkjet

Australia’s largest digital printer declares his hand with a long awaited purchase of an Océ ColorStream 3500 colour press.

The experienced industry leader backs up his decision with his belief that digital printing technology is moving towards inkjet. “The next few years will see a quantum shift to inkjet for digital printing,” said Peddlesden. “This is a monumental move for our industry.”

The production capability of the ColorStream is set to bring a number of printing jobs back onshore from overseas. It will shatter the cost/price nexus that has seen so much Australian work printed internationally. The colour ability as well as the massive productivity of over 100 mpm double-sided output simply changes the equation for the digital printing industry.

“Inkjet will only get better in the years ahead. The big companies are pouring money into development and research,” said Peddlesden. “While there is quite a big market there now it will only get bigger.”

Peddlesden (pictured with the Océ Aust team including managing director, Simon Wheeler on left, with Tim Saleeba and Herbert Kieleithner at this year's Open House in Poing, Germany) believes the change from sheetfed to web digital print will alter the whole production dynamics of the industry. Handling high-speed printing requires a more sophisticated paper handling system as well as complex prepress to get the best from the systems.

“The shift to web printing is a whole new science that we have to get on top of. It involves having to worry not only about feeding the press but also getting it off the machine,” he said.

OnDemand already has a head start in the transition having made the jump to web digital printing with its top-of-the-range HP Indigo 7200. The comprehensive Hunkler web paper-handling system will be moved offline to operate in standalone mode in order to handle both machines’ output.

“Luckily the Hunkler is able to handle the wider web size of the ColorStream 3500. Some people might call it foresight,” chuckles Peddlesden.

The OnDemand ColorStream 3500 includes the latest upgrades and can print to 540 mm wide, or two A4 pages side by side. The Océ production software was a significant contributing factor in Peddlesden’s decision.

“The beauty of this machine is that we can print colour or black and white at full speed and change on the fly. It allows us to address a new mass market of printing that was cost prohibitive previously,” he said.

The new press will be delivered to OnDemand in early October and is expected to be in production at the Dockland premises in Melbourne before the end of that month. It will complement an already impressive array of digital equipment, including the HP Indigo 7200 and reaffirm OnDemand’s pole position as the pacesetter for the digital industry.

“The next few years are going to be very interesting. I’m looking forward to the challenge,” said Peddlesden.

Specifications:
The Océ ColorStream 3500 system prints at 75 meters per minute with a print width of 540 mm (21,25”). That translates to 505 A4-size ppm (537 letter) for a single unit or 1010 A4-size ppm (1070 letter) for a twin configuration with average volumes up to 12 million A4 pages per month on a single system or up to 24 million A4 images per month on a twin system, all at 600 x 600 dpi resolution. With optional multilevel dot modulation, crisp details and smooth halftones can be produced with 1200x1200 dpi quality at full rated speed.