Picking a winner has as much to do with the strength and stature of the company that’s bringing new inkjet engines to the market as it does with deciding who has the best digital imaging technology.
EFI doesn’t make its own inkjet heads, neither does Xerox. Both major suppliers, who are launching new presses at the upcoming drupa, OEM the most important part of an inkjet engine. According to Guy Gecht, the charismatic CEO of EFI, there’s no point in reinventing the wheel when there are so many good inkjet head manufacturers. EFI happily plays the field, moving between manufacturers, picking different heads for different engines. “I don’t believe there’s a single inkjet head that can do everything,” Gecht told the drupa media conference in Düsseldorf this week.
He has no shortage of inkjet head producers to buy from, ranging from UK-based Xaar to the Australian invented Memjet and the Japanese manufacturers such as Kyocera, STMicroelectronics, Ricoh, Konica Minolta, Epson and the US-based Fujifilm Dimatix. Then there’s a whole bunch of inkjet heads coming out of China of variable quality and effectiveness in addition to massive R&D underway around the world. This unprecedented investment goes a long way towards laying to rest any doubt that inkjet is the future of printing.
As the producer of some of the best selling wide format LED UV and Hybrid inkjet engines, you’d think Gecht knows what he’s talking about when he approaches the market. However his decision illustrates the dilemma facing printers looking to invest, or upgrade in wide format or production print inkjet. What are the criteria to make a sound decision? Although no one is talking prices ahead of the show, a lot of it must come down to the reputation of the company and its back-up service network.
Gecht proved coy about exactly what EFI will be launching at the show, claiming he wanted to keep some surprises for his drupa press conference. But he did say there will be a packaging production press, likely narrow web – so what, folding cartons? – in addition to new wide formats.
Xerox on the other hand was quite specific about its new inkjet engines. The inventor of toner printing is embracing the technology with a vengeance, announcing two production-printing machines, the Brenva HD, its first cut-sheet inkjet and a new continuous feed inkjet machine, the Trivor 2400.
Xerox management quote InfoTrends figures that project production colour inkjet print will account for 57 percent of the total production digital colour page volume by 2019. To carve out its share of that bonanza, the Xerox Brenva is aiming to fill the gap between the high-end toner and low-end inkjet presses delivering business class print quality for light direct mail, transactional and book markets. (I have no word yet on whether it will translate into the Fuji Xerox stable in our part of the world.)
Xerox is open about its use of Kyocera inkjet heads, describing them as ‘best in class.’ Rather than re-inventing the inkjet head, it is leveraging other strengths from its long line-up of toner-based digital presses, such as paper control and DFEs.
This is not the case with Epson, which takes great pride in its claim to be one of the few manufacturers that owns all the technology that go into its presses. PrecisionCore inkjet heads, launched at last drupa in 2012, form the foundation of the new range of Epson production print, label and photo presses. As well as announcing that it is investing Euro 160 million in building a new factory in Japan to triple its inkjet press production capacity, the company detailed what can be expected at drupa.
PrecisionCore is a breakthrough inkjet head technology that can be scaled down to desktops and up to production print presses. Now in its third generation the PrecisionCore TFP printhead, either as a single head or in wide linehead configurations, is defining the company’s development. Epson claims its inkjet products are delivering significantly higher quality, higher speeds and better all-round performance. At drupa it is addressing a range of market sectors with its stand divided between prepress, sign & display, label, copy shop and technology.
Two new label inkjets are the seven-colour SurePress L-4033AW, for high-quality, high-value, short-run label printing as well as the new, portable LabelWorks LW-Z900, which latter is designed for industrial and construction use but will likely prove very attractive for commercial printers too.
Another company that makes its own print heads is Konica Minolta, which is bringing its KM-1 cut-sheet inkjet press to market. This long awaited entrant expands and builds on the company’s stellar rise in toner-based digital. Recognising that the market for the B2-size inkjet press is very different from its current customer base, Konica Minolta, is creating a new division, Print Logistic Services, to build presence among commercial production printers. This is practically the same inkjet press that Komori is going to bring to drupa; the offset press manufacturer constructed the superstructure and paper carriage while Konica Minolta brought the electronics and the inkjet heads.
Some of the suppliers that presented at the media conference have been in the inkjet sector for some time and are not introducing new machines – the imperative to always have a new engine in time for drupa seems to be no longer as compelling as it once was. Fujifilm, a technology giant that also makes its own print heads ever since buying US-based Dimatix, is basing its drupa presence in production inkjet around the latest version of its Jet Press 720s. This was first introduced at drupa 2008 and has proven quite successful in the market. It is also bringing a UV-LED web press for the flexible packaging market. The company’s inkjet range is filled out with a new Uvistar Hybrid 320 – a 3.2 m combination flatbed and roll-to-roll wide format.
Having seemingly put most of the corporate cultural integration difficulties behind it since it took over Océ, Canon is using this drupa to reinforce its claim to being the largest single equipment supplier to the printing industry. It certainly has a very broad portfolio where inkjet features prominently. A company with a long history in inkjet press manufacturing it contines to allow Océ to OEM inkjet heads from Kyocera for its VarioPrint and ColorStream products. Even though Canon is an inkjet head manufacturer itself it prefers to focus on its engineering strengths in production printing.
It has reengineered its top of the line C10000VP to launch the lower-speed C8000VP with most of the capabilities of its big brother but at a different price point. It’s a new model to fill out the market; as to whether you’d consider it a new machine is up to you.
Canon executives also confirmed that the non-particle InfiniStream that was debuted at last drupa, is currently back on the drawing board for a radical redesign. When an engine that supposedly uses all the aromatic oils and solvents as a pigment carrier for nano particles runs into such quality problems, it make one wonder how Benny Landa is doing in bringing his water-based inkjet to drupa.
First presenter in Düsseldorf, Kodak has also reengineered its radically different inkjet head Stream technology. The continuous feed inkjet has had its issues but is gaining traction and solving most of the accuracy problems. 2015 was the best selling year ever for the Prosper 6000c.
It is now bringing a new inkjet head to market, the Ultrastream, with a radically different way of breaking up the continuous ink stream using positive and negative charges. Kodak is concentrating its inkjet efforts on developing the writing systems and working with OEMS to develop the actual presses. It will be demonstrating the new Ultrastream inkjet head at drupa, openly looking for partners.
One such partner already in the fold is Bobst, the Swiss-based finishing equipment, and gravure and flexo press manufacturer. Kodak Stream inkjet heads power the massive corrugated inkjet press, with two already in beta sites. Stephan Mårz, director, tells me the company is taking a characteristically cautious approach as it refines quality levels. Bookending the media conference, Kodak up first, Bobst finishing up on the Wednesday, their partnership neatly encapsulates the dynamism as well as the complexity of the inkjet sector in this drupa year.
There’s no doubt this drupa will be characterised by inkjet, with many more entrants, even Heidelberg, seeing it as their opportunity to 'touch the future' that is the theme of the show. See you there.
