Fujifilm jets off first at Ipex
Kicking off with the first press conference of the Ipex show, Fujifilm introduced the Jet Press 720 sheetfed inkjet press. First shown at drupa08, the Jet Press 720 will be printing live throughout the show. Print21 editor, Simon Enticknap, reports live from the show.
Fujifilm is highlighting several key areas with the new press including market position, print quality, environmental benefits, paper stock, sheet size and productivity.
In particular, it is positioning the press as sitting in between the established SRA3 digital print engines and conventional B2 offset litho. Target run lengths are 500 to 2,000 copies at a top speed of 2,700 sheets per hour.
The B2 sheet size also aims the Jet Press squarely at offset printers looking to add a digital option, enabling them to finish jobs printed on the Jet Press on conventional bindery equipment without the need to re-equip. The maximum sheet size is 720 x 520mm.
Pictured: Steve Cookman, Fujifilm product manager of the Jet Press 720 in the UK introduces the new press to the media.
On the stand, the Jet Press was shown printing on Arjowiggins Satimat Green 200gsm to emphasise its ability to print on typical offset stocks.
The press uses water-based CMYK inks with a maximum resolution of 1,200 x 1,200dpi. The production process starts with a water-based pre-coat, then imaging with four SAMBA inkjet printhead bars (developed by Dimatix with 17 printheads per bar and 2,048 nozzles) following by infra-red drying and a scanning module to check colour quality.
The printheads can vary the droplet size down to 2 picolitres enabling very fine detail while the CMYK heads are claimed to print within 200mm to ensure tight registration.
A beta installation of the press is due in Japan next month while demo models will be installed in Europe in October with customers installations in 2011. No price for the press has been released with Fujifilm preferring to talk about ‘total cost of ownership’ with customers.
The Fujifilm stand at Ipex is divided into four key areas – offset print, wide format, what the company calls ‘integrated production’ as well as the new Jet Press 720.
Integrated production is where Fujifilm brings together several of the ‘hottest’ current buzzwords in printing – hybrid workflows, web-to–print, 3D proofing, variable data printing, wide format colour management and MIS.
In workflow, the highlights are launch of XMF v3.0 with improved 3D proofing, high volume imposition and ink optimisation module, and XMF Remote v5.0 with enhanced functionality for remote proofing.
Also showing in this area is the new Xerox Color 1000 toner digital printer, emphasising the links between Fujifilm and Xerox.
In the offset section – Fujifilm’s core business - there is the launch of new two plates, the Brillia HD LH-PLE and HD LH-NI3, both low-chemistry thermal plates developed for long run applications.
The PLE is designed for use in sheetfed and web printing for runs up to 300,000 while the NI3 is aimed at the very long run market with a life of 1 million impressions when baked. Both plates claim to reduce chemical usage with a bath life of three months.
In wide format print – another growing area for Fujifilm – there are several digital wide format presses including the Uvistar roll-to-roll UV printer in 3.2m and 5m widths, using new Uvijet QK inks for greater adhesion, as well as the new Pro-File system, a product unique to Fujifilm comprising Sericol screen inks, Acuity digital printers and ColorGATE software, designed to deliver consistent colour output across screen and digital wide format print to ISO 12647 standards.
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