Australia’s digital pioneer has signed up again with the father of digital print, Benny Landa, to bring the next generation of digital printing to the Asia Pacific market.
Like Groundhog Day for the printing industry as Benny Landa gears up to finally reveal his line-up of nano-particle, water-based inkjet presses at drupa in May, one of his trusted lieutenants from the early days of Indigo presses, Michael Mogridge, is again tasked with introducing the new technology to the local market.
For industry veterans it’s a re-run of the mid-1990s when Mogridge alternatively amazed and appalled the printing industry here with his marketing of the first digital presses. Not known for his retiring personality, Mogridge is more than happy to be back in the saddle after some years in the label printing industry in WA.
“It’s fantastic to be back. Benny is the magician. He’ll turn 70 at this drupa and what he did to change the printing industry forever once, he’ll do it again,” said the ebullient Mogridge, fresh from touring the Landa factories in Israel.
“After all this time digital printing still only accounts for two percent of the market. Why? Because of limitations in speed, format and price. Well, Benny has solved all that. It’s offset quality at offset speed and because it’s water-based ink it can print on any material without coatings. It’s a revolution. You’ll see it a drupa,” he said.
Perhaps no new technology launch has attracted the same amount of attention as the upcoming Landa show at this drupa. Following on from his smash-hit introductory performance four years ago, Landa has to deliver this time. He signed up a couple of hundred printers with substantial deposits, including our own Trent Nankervis of CMYKhub, who remains a firm supporter.
Without any official announcements, word is that the main attraction at the Landa stand will be the S10, a 105 cm sheetfed press running at speeds around 6500 sph. The paper carriage and 30-tonne press infrastructure may be solidly manufactured by Komori but the razzmatazz is all Benny Landa.
“Its an amazing press, five times faster, two times bigger, environmentally friendly without any solvents or VOCs. It’s going to change the printing industry in ways you cannot imagine. Anyone with multiple large offset presses will buy one,” claims Mogridge with typical confidence.
He maintains there will be no repeat of the launch problems that plagued the early Indigos – so much so that printers had to buy two machines at a time to get reliability
“This time they’ve been in bunker mode, it’s a different game. Benny has a minority investor who’s put in over one hundred million dollars. The rest is Benny’s. I guarantee you the printing industry will never be the same again after this drupa."