Heidelberg IPEX preview: Digital printing

Anyone taking digital printing seriously must see Heidelberg; it is a stand you cannot miss because NexPress 2100 has turned heads and changed minds about the future potential of colour digital printing. Shown at Drupa in prototype, it comes to IPEX 2002, a beta tested and commercially available machine.


Nexpress 2100

Two NexPress 2100s will be on show along with two Digimaster 9110 black and white lines as well as Direct Imaging technology, which some regard as digital printing others as in-press CtP on conventional technology.

Heidelberg has both a B2, unit construction Direct Imaging press (the Speedmaster SM 74 DI with up to six units plus coating) and a B3, satellite configuration press (the Quickmaster DI Pro a four-colour machine which, with its new feeder, can handle two pass production in perfect register to give eight-colour work).

The established Digimaster 9110 runs at 110 pages a minute and can handle a range of stock at 600dpi, from 60gsm to 200gsm including glossy art paper and card. It comes with scanning, inserting and perfect binding options. It is an easy to use and productive machine for black and white work capable of bringing together nine different stock types into finished product.

One Digimaster and one NexPress will be demonstrated alongside the Speedmaster SM 74 DI Direct Imaging press. Each machine will output pages which reflect that model’s niche and then the pages will be collated in line of the Digimaster to produce a give away product brochure.

The other NexPress is shown side up so visitors can look at the paperflow and engineering prowess.

Mark Clark, head of Heidelberg UK’s Digital High Volume Division, says: “NexPress 2100 has been beta tested at several companies, including in the UK Prontaprint, EmEnEss, IGW Uniskill and Printflow. It is an ideal press for short run, quick turnaround variable data production. It offers significantly higher quality than existing digital presses and the whole technology is more advanced, well researched and thought out. It is a press built around criteria laid down by graphic arts users. Roll-fed competitors offer limited substrates and sheetfed rivals are more used to a lower volume arena.”

The list price of the NexPress 2100 will be about £320,000 including installation, training and Operator Replaceable Components sufficient to print 300,000 images. There are no click charges and consumable costs will be competitive against its rivals. Designed with Operator Replaceable Components (ORCs) the user can do most service tasks himself without special tools and this will maximise press uptime and minimise additional call out costs. There are over 40 ORCs on the NexPress.

The press can use a wide range of media at full engine speed, 2100 sph for four-colour perfected A4 format. There is no restriction on the papers used although Heidelberg can make recommendations. Three different types of paper can be used in one job. The sturdy build and environmental conditioning combined with DryInk give a consistent quality from sheet to sheet and job to job over time.

It is based on open standards and is the first digital printing system to feature a full PDF/PJTF implementation and a PPML-based variable data input. The internal architecture of the NexStation is based on Adobe Extreme technology and portable-job-ticket format technology.

The front end NexStation is a modular solution which can grow with a business. It is Windows 2000 based and is easily integrated in Mac or PC network environments.

Heidelberg believes there will be some overlap with its Direct Imaging technology but cost per copy and the amount of versioning handled will determine which solution a buyer selects. NexPress will be most successful in runs of 0 to 500 and the Quickmaster DI, its B3 equivalent, in runs of 500 to 5,000. Above that conventional offset with CtP makes the running. Heidelberg believes all three technologies have a place and will have market potential for many years to come.


Heidelberg at IPEX 2002 - Hall 5 and 8

Hope you are having a great IPEX 2002!

Heidelberg Graphic Equipment Ltd
658 Church Street
Richmond 3121
Victoria, Australia

Ph: +61-3-9205 4111
Fax: +61-3-9205 4211

www.au.heidelberg.com
or
www.heidelberg.com