Despite assurances from the pioneer of digital printing that R&D is going well on his new revolutionary printing system, Landa was unable to promise a delivery date during the Ipex Print Summit.
Prodded by emeritus grise (sic), Frank Romano, during a session he shared with Guy Gecht, CEO of EFI, Landa hedged his bets, declaring he did not want to repeat the mistakes made with the Indigo by releasing the nanographic press before it is ready. He joked that the cause of the delay was in waiting for the specially designed Fiery RIP from EFI, a suggestion immediately rebuffed by Gecht who confirmed the hold up was with the other party.
Beta testing of the Landa press will now start later this year at undisclosed locations in Europe and the USA. Landa has already missed the beta testing deadline he made at drupa 2012 for the first presses to be in the field by late last year. Technology partner Komori, which is making the press superstructure and paper handling equipment, is predicting its own branded version will be ready in September 2015.
- Playing to a packed house (left to right) Guy Gecht, Frank Romano and Benny Landa at Ipex Print Summit.
Benny Landa’s appearance at the Print Summit in London played to a standing room audience, confirming his position as the printing industry’s ‘superstar.’ Reading from a prepared presentation he expanded on the role of nanotechnology, not only in the printing industry but in other fields such as energy creation. He confirmed that the nanopress development is focused on producing a machine for the packaging industry as the publishing and information sectors come under increasing threat. New sectors such as industrial printing that print was poised for a renaissance with new technology
“Unlike publishing, most commercial print and packaging apps can simply not be replaced by digital media,” said Landa, in a pragmatic twist to his famous dictum that anything that can go digital, will go digital.
Sharing the stage, the EFI CEO, Guy Gecht, concentrated on what he saw as the unique feature of the printing industry, its predominence by family-owned companies, often for many generations. “What other industry has businesses that are passed on like this?” he asked.
Gecht’s take on the situation is that while print volumes will continue to decline, the work that remains, such a variable data print and personalised direct mail, will be worth more. “We have to realise that in five to ten years from now, there may be less print, but what is left will be higher in value,” he said. “The success of these businesses lies mostly with those where a significant part uses digital technology, and there is a definite shift from very long runs to tailored, on-demand jobs with VDP.”