Every four years, the printing industry convenes at Messe Dusseldorf for drupa, the largest printing fair in the world. The opening two days have already seen major announcements in the digital field.
 
EFI made a series of announcements at its press conference, led by CEO Guy Gecht, with two in particular of great interest.
 
First, Gecht discussed the new EFI Nozomi single pass digital LED corrugated printer. Gecht noted that the 1.8 meter wide printer can run at speeds of 246 linear feet per minute, and is printed directly on the board.
 
The second announcement detailed EFI’s new EFI AquaEndure water-based inkjet inks for packaging. “This will really help our inkjet platform become more successful,” Gecht said.
 
Gecht said that EFI is reinventing inkjet.
 
“Inkjet is a disruptive technology,” said Gecht. For example, corrugated can be personalized, with boxes delivered to your door in custom-printed boxes.
 
“The printing platform is on fire,” he added. “The choice is to crash and burn or jump to the right platform.”
 
Domino Printing Sciences showed two new printers, beginning with the new K630i monochrome digital press, complete with an IBIS digital saddle-stitcher, for the digital book market. The K630i has web speeds of up to 150 meters/min producing up to 7,000 book blocks or booklets per hour. The company also displayed its N610i seven color inkjet digital label press, which prints at 165 meters per minute with both white inks, and 246 fett per minute without white. The N610i has two white bars, as well as orange and violet inks.
 
“With our two white bars, our opacity is second to none,” said David Ellen, president, Digital Printing Solutions, North America for Domino.
 
FUJIFILM Corporation is also launching a series of new printers and inks at drupa 2016.
 
The company’s Jet Press 720S, which was first commercialized at drupa 2012, now has the ability to handle heavier carton board stock and new SAMBA printheads. For inks, FUJIFILM has formulated VIVIDIA water-based pigment inks, which offer a wide color gamut.
 
Also new to FUJIFILM are the Uvistar Hybrid 320, a hybrid 3.2 meter wide eight-channel flatbed and roll printer that uses Uvijet US UV inks, new Uvijet US high performance ink, with CMYK, Lc, Lm, Lk, and Orange in the standard ink set, and White ink available in the nine-channel configuration.
 
The new Acuity LED 3200R is also 3.2 meters wide, and has a top speed of 1,184 square feet an hour, or 110 square meters per hour. Like the Uvistar Hybrid 320, Acuity LED 3200R also features Uvijet inks, and has eight ink channels (CMYK, Lc, Lm, white and clear).
 
HP is also entering the digital corrugated market with its new HP PageWide C500 Press, which offers direct-to-board printing. In addition, the HP Indigo Digital Combination Press concept is a new fully-digital, single-pass solution.
 
HP also announced that Cimpress ordered a fleet of the larger format next generation HP Indigo presses (circa 20, of which more than half will be installed in the second half of 2016). Cimpress also announced plans to acquire 20 Landa Nanographic Printing presses.
 
The Landa Nanographic Printing®presses were the most interesting introduction at drupa 2012, and while the presses haven’t reached the market yet, there is news on these presses. The company reported that it will deploy its presses at beta sites in Europe and the US during 2017, including colordruck Baiersbronn, Germany’s leading folding carton printer, which will test the Landa S10 Nanographic Printing® Press.