Previewed at drupa, launched at Ipex, the new generation high speed inkjet printing solutions have begun to arrive in Australia, reports Wayne Robinson
Seen by some as the inevitable future of commercial printing, by others as a fringe technology, high speed inkjet printing solutions have been the talk of the industry since they first appeared on the global print stage, mostly in prototype form, at drupa two years ago.
This year’s Ipex was the platform for commercial launch, or at least definitive dates when they would be launched, with the printing solutions attracting maximum attention at the show. Last month’s PrintWorks Expo in Sydney saw Screen have a high speed inkjet on its stand, a big statement of intent, which was rewarded by the sight of most of the country’s big five commercial printers on the stand – in fact mostly on the same afternoon which was interesting – and plenty of interest from everyone else.
That interest generated through the trade shows is now ramping up into installations since then the first high speed inkjets have begun to arrive in Australia. SOS Print + Media is installing the first Kodak Prosper in this part of the world, Salmat has put in a pair of Océ Jetstreams, while Computershare will put in the country’s first InfoPrint 5000 over the Christmas period. Across the Tasman Astra Printing in Wellington has put in the region;’s first Screen Truepress 520, and announced a co-operation agreement with SOS. And it won’t be long before the first HP T200 comes to this part of the world.
Australia is of course renowned as a country of early adopters, the local print industry in particular has a worldwide reputation for being keen to embrace new technology. How far that embrace will go for high speed inkjets is yet to be seen. On paper the proposition is irresistible; from the no make-ready and no waste, the instant printing from file to paper at the press of a button, the lack of skill required, no four year apprenticeships here, they are virtually green button solutions. Then there is the ability to produce in multiple applications, you could be printing a newspaper one minute, followed by a personalised direct mailer, followed by some school textbooks and so on. This of course opens up a host of new markets for printers.
Personalisation will feature strongly in the years ahead, as marketeers get to grips with the potential of the technology and the ROI that personalisation offers. Ken Williams, managing director of Excel Australia, one of the leaders in print personalisation believes that the current level of media fragmentation, with internet, pay TV, free TV, internet TV, Tivo and ad skipping Foxtel technology, leaves personalised print perfectly positioned to reach consumers in a direct targeted way that will create serious ROI for brand owners. He says, “ No other media can personalise like print can, and personalisation is the key to results. We have the greatest opportunity ever to take market share from traditional media. We have the ability to provide clients with communication that is personalised and relevant. We know how to manage data, and this information can be rolled into communications that impact the target audience of our clients. This is the best opportunity that print has had for three decades.”
Relevance was the key challenge laid out by Richard Allely, the CEO of the nation’s biggest printer PMP at an industry presentation recently. He says, “The real challenge is in the relevance. And relevance looks to the future, it is bold, it is creative, it is interesting, it excites, it responds to real needs. Print needs to be relevant.”
Allely was in fact addressing the future of print, and the position of offset and digital. He told the assembled guests that his visit to Ipex in may was a real eye opener particularly with the capabilities of high speed inkjet. However his current view is that for PMP at least, with its massive volumes, the speed and quality of high speed inkjet was not yet sufficient to cause the print giant to invest.
Currently though the speed and quality available on high speed inkjets are clearly enough to persuade some of the biggest printer in the country to lead the way. Certainly SOS, Salmat and Computershare are no back street operations, and are obviously happy with what they are getting. High speed inkjet isn’t going to print Vogue magazine anytime soon, but for work such as newspapers, books, direct mail it is certainly up to the mark, and will only improve its quality, there is no inherent barrier to this as there is with toner technology.
Salmat has invested in Océ JetStream ink jet technology in order to fast-track its customers’ transpromo campaigns. Salmat claims the purchase of two JetStream 2200 MICR colour inkjet continuous print systems will establish it as a market leader in digital colour in Australia.
The new Océ technology will support Salmat’s transpromo service, enabling the company to deliver digital, full-colour printing with variable data. Salmat says information printed on statements is analysed and re-purposed so that marketing campaigns and offers can be made more relevant to each individual based on their transactions, behaviour and activity.
Nick Debenham, CEO of Salmat’s business process outsourcing division says, “This will provide Salmat with a technology edge which will enable us to produce statements without base stationery and add personalisation to every document.
“The new technology will enable us to create new business opportunities and grow revenue from our current customer base by transitioning clients to colour at market competitive pricing.”
The Océ JetStream 2200 MICR is a digital, full-colour printing system capable of producing full-colour data including MICR ink at high speed. The system uses a high speed web-fed paper path to produce CMYK full-process colour output at a speed of 150 metres per minute which results in maximum productivity and low total cost of ownership.
Salmat will deploy one Océ printing system in Victoria and the other in New South Wales.
Global communications provider Computershare Communication Services (CCS) has formed a strategic partnership with InfoPrint Solutions, which includes the provision of an InfoPrint Solutions 5000 high speed colour inkjet printer.
Computershare says the partnership will significantly enhance its existing capabilities, resulting in the delivery of superior communications solutions to clients. David Hynes, global chairman of Computershare Communication Services says, “Computershare and InfoPrint are both leaders in our fields, and we now have a fantastic opportunity to combine our knowledge, experience and capabilities to deliver even better service to clients.”
Also commenting, Lee Gallagher, director of InfoPrint’s precision marketing solutions says, “By combining our scalable technology and proven solutions with Computershare, we will be showing new audiences how to transform their marketing campaigns and enhance the customer communication experience.”
René Kisselbach, general manager of InfoPrint Australia says, “The InfoPrint 5000 at Computershare is a triplex, three engines, with one for inline MICR, and which can also be adapted for coatings or special colours.”
According to Kisselbach the Computershare solution will be used for transactional statements, bank statements, direct mail and micro printing. But he says the Infoprint 5000 is good for even more applications, “Book printing is a key area that the Infoprint will target. The ability to produce colour books on demand with no waste is a great proposition.”
SOS Print + Media has made a reputation for itself as an innovator and technology leader, and has become the first company to install a Kodak Prosper printer, initially in monochome format.
Bob Gardner, joint managing director, SOS Print + Media Group, says, “ The Prosper 1000 Press delivers a competitive technological advantage in the printing of trade books in particular, as well as educational books. Given this segment represents a significant percentage of our turnover, the investment in the Prosper 1000 Press is more than justified.”
Reflecting the multi-application opportunities the Prosper platform provides Gardner says, “The press we are installing will be initially configured for monochrome printing; however we are reviewing the option to upgrade to the Prosper 5000XL colour press when it is available in 2011.
This will allow us to move into personalised catalogues, magazines, transactional documents for smaller entities like credit unions, and then direct marketing areas, which we will pursue through our partnership with U&I Direct.”
According to Gardner the new Prosper 1000 fits into the company’s strategic business plan perfectly. He says, “We have a number of existing contracts, and we’ve recently won new work that will be produced digitally. With what we already have in place, excluding the potential opportunities, our digital volume will easily double. And we are currently in the process of tendering for major contracts, so I am confident of where we are going and how digital fits in.
“There is no doubt the digital side of our business is where growth is coming from. Globally it is a recognised fact that run lengths are getting shorter in every product segment. Some of this reduction in volume may be attributable to the GFC, but I don’t believe that’s the only factor in the trend towards reduced runs, as product lifecycles are also shortening, and companies want more flexibility in going to market.
“I don’t believe the print market is going to come back to those halcyon days of standard long runs. The movement toward shorter run lengths comes with quicker time frames, and tight market prices. All these factors have led us to the Prosper 1000 Press. At present we have adequate levels of monochrome print work to transfer to this machine without having to worry about how to keep it busy.
“In assessing the viability of the Prosper 1000 Press we looked extensively at the size of run lengths we could do and still print profitably. And we also considered the finishing aspects.
“On the trade books side of things all these products use the same paper, the only variation being in book size and number of pages. By organising books into book sizes we believe we can get away with a run as low as ten books. The maximum run length is virtually unrestricted because the speed of the machine enables you to remain competitive regardless of volume particularly when you are producing transactional documents like phone bills or credit card statements.
“The Prosper 1000 Press prints at 3600 pages a minute (A4). As an example we printed a trade book on one of our existing digital monochrome devices that prints at a maximum speed of 320 pages a minute. This print run took 32 hours. By comparison running the same job on the Prosper 1000 Press will take less than two hours.
“We’ve also worked with Kodak and its partner Hunkeler to configure a customised offline solution that will take the finished printed reel and put it into book blocks further increasing productivity.”
Books were the key target that Astra print had in mind when it ordered the region’s first Screen Truepress Jet 520, but even then it was also looking at other markets.
Steve Messenger, CEO of Astra says, “Shorter, cost-effective print runs on behalf of publishers deliver a distinct competitive edge, environmental benefits and dynamic service levels to our customers. In Screen’s Truepress Jet 520, we now have the technology to offer all of this to book, newspaper and magazine publishers - in full colour or mono - with crisp black text and excellent colour reproduction. The set-up costs and time involved to do this by traditional analogue methods would make it prohibitive.”
Production speeds on the Trupress Jet 520 are up to around 1,600 A4 pages per minute across its 520mm wide web, which equates to around 3,200 typical trade paperback book impressions of 135mm x 216mm. This is nearly 200,000 book pages per hour in duplex mode, equivalent to around 1,250 x 160-page paperbacks in an hour.
Messenger continues; “Speed, while important, is not the main advantage of this type of digital press. It is the ability to queue various jobs and have them printed in a continuous stream, without stopping for lengthy and expensive plate-changes. While a sample print run of one copy is possible, we offer to bring books to market with as few as 50 copies. However, if it proves to be a hot seller, we can go up to 1500 digital copies before we consider making plates and printing offset litho. This almost eliminates wastage and remaindering – an environmental bonus. Truepress Jet 520 uses the latest PDF ripping technologies and PDF is the language most content originators use these days.”
I terms of speed the HP T300 knocks out 122 metres a minute, while the Kodak Prosper produces 200 metres a minute, the Truepress pumps out 128 metres a minute, the Infoprint 5000 similarly delivers up to 128 metres a minute, while the Océ Jetstream in its new baby version 1000 produces 75 metres a minute, but the 2200 is capable of 150 metres a minute.
High speed inkjet cololur printing has got some of the biggest names in the industry behind it, with significant R+D and marketing budgets, and plenty of different opportunities to invest their money. That HP, Kodak, Screen, Infoprint / Ricoh and Oce / Canon are pouring it into high speed inkjet is indicative of the reality that this is where they believe much of the future of print will be found.
High speed commercial inkjet: the contenders
There is a quintet of major developers vying for supremacy in high speed inkjet world, and half a dozen more with smaller aspirations, who may or may not enter Australia. The big five though all come with serious credentials; Kodak with its imaging background, Screen which manufactures more than half the world’ CTP engines under oem agreements, Infoprint Solutions (now owned by Ricoh) which uses the Screen engine allied with IBM processing power, Océ which owns the world’s biggest selling wide format flatbed inkjet colour printer, the Arizona, and is now backed by Canon, and HP, which of course owns the Indigo, owns the world’s biggest computer company, and has a serious marketing budget.
Their solutions are all at various stages of developments. Océ and InfoPrint Solutions have had commercially available systems for more than two years, Screen has been up and running for more than a year, Kodak and HP launched at Ipex. All are continuing to develop, HP for instance started off with the T300, and then launched a downsized version, the T200 at Ipex. Kodak has monochrome Prosper 1000 and will launch colour 5000 next year, InfoPrint will launch an new version of its 5000 early next year, Océ now has the widest field of high speed inkjets available including the new 750mm Jetstream 2800, while Dainippon Screen has just announced a faster press, the Truepress Jet520 ZZ.
HP
The HP stable now comprises the T300 and T200 high speed inkjet colour printers. The HP inkjet web T200 is a 61 metres a minute full colour printer, which HP says can easily switch to mono and print at 122 metres a minute on a 520mm wide web. The T300, HP’s original high speed inkjet, prints on a 760mm wide web, and HP says there are already nine operating around the world, claiming they are handling peak volumes of up to four million 4/0 pages per day.
Infoprint Solutions
The first quarter of 2011 should see the launch of the new Infoprint 5000VP, which René Kisselbach describes as ‘a turbo charged 5000’. Infoprint has more high speed inkjets installed around the world than anyone else, partly as a result of its controller system, developed from its IBM heritage.
Kodak
The Kodak Prosper will be available in both black and white (1000) and full colour versions (5000). It is also available in its print head only version (Stream) to install on offset presses. The colour version is slated for launch early next year. It has been seen in full working configuration at both Ipex and the recent Graph Expo show in Chicago.
Océ
The Océ JetStream delivers colour output with a standard resolution of 600 x 600 dpi, with a print width of 52cm. printing speed is either 75 or 150 feet per minute depending on the version. Océ also has the Jetsream 2800, which it says is the industry’s fastest inkjet printing on a 760mm wide web with a speed of 130 metres per minute and 750mm actual print width.
Screen
Screen has the Truepress Jet 520 and the soon to be launched Truepress Jet 520 ZZ (this engine will also appear from Ricoh Infoprint as the Infoprint 5000VP). This ZZ also has a wider web width of 570mm. The press has a running speed of 600 feet/min, this speed is achieved through the use of new faster Epson print heads.
Andrew Tribute
