Tuesday, 08 Apr 2014 20:34 GMT

A wide-format star rises in the East

Brendan Perring investigates the launch of Epson’s bold expansion strategy and its plan to double its portfolio in the next 18 months

Setting off bright and early with Epson’s UK headquarters as my destination, expecting another day reporting on the launch of a piece of technology or two, I was not prepared for the level of ambition that this Japanese giant has now revealed.

In an exclusive one-on-one interview with SignLink, Phil McMullin, sales manager ProGraphics, Epson UK set out the scope of its strategy in terms of product development to compete with its key rivals—he did not pull his punches: “It is a highly competitive market and the current players do a very good job. But we have a very compelling proposition in terms of print quality, consistency, reliability and value for money. Our ultimate goal in all of the markets we will enter is to become the number one player."

We have a very compelling proposition in terms of print quality, consistency, reliability and value for money. Our ultimate goal in all of the markets we will enter is to become the number one player”

Indeed, with Epson reportedly spending some £1.2m a day— approximately 6 percent of annual turnover—on research and development, it seems it certainly has the tools to work at its goals. And if the ultimate vision of the president of Seiko Epson, Minoru Usui, that, “everything will be printed by Epson”, is to be taken seriously then the upcoming ‘battle of the manufacturers’ will make for interesting times indeed. 


Phil McMullin, sales manager ProGraphics, Epson UK set out the company's stall at a press day


Walking into the company’s Hemel Hempstead offices, it is backing these bold claims with one of the most extensive customer suites I have seen from a single manufacturer, spanning four demonstration zones that cover its target technology markets, restaurant, and state-of-the-art media theatre. Settling into the latter at the start of the launch day, McMullin set out an expansion strategy that is rocket like in its trajectory.

All systems go

He explained to the assembled gaggle of media that targeting the signage, décor, label, textile and photo print markets, Epson would no less than double its range of ‘Sure’ brand inkjet printers by 2016 with ten new models due for launch over the next 18 months. This builds on already significant momentum and will take the company’s portfolio to 33 professional production printers. He also confirmed that Epson would be going toe-for-toe with every single one of its competitor's products in the future.


Technology such as the new Epson SureColor SC-F7100 dye-sublimation printer is designed to provide company's with a range of product diversification options


A key highlight of the day was the launch of the 64” SureColor SC-F7100 (58sq m/hr, 1.5l bulk ink system) digital dye-sublimation transfer printer. The new system features an enhanced auto take-up reel with improved tensioning, new post-platen heater, and an optional print drying system to ensure greater reliability and efficiency when producing textiles roll-to-roll.

Commenting on motivation for the development, Martin Johns, product manager, Epson UK, explained: “It opens up new revenue streams for customers and these improvements enable them to respond to and maximise the business potential presented by the demand for short to medium textile production runs.”


Direct-to-garment printing is a growing opportunity for print-service-providers. Pictured: Output from the SureColor SC-F2000

McMullin added: “We want to provide the market with the best combination of printer and ink technology to deliver high quality, superb reliability and the best all round return on investment for the broadest range of professional print applications,”

He added later in interview: “In terms of how we present that proposition to our customer base, then fundamentally it is about the products being designed, built, and supported wholly by Epson. So we are talking about the printer chassis, heads, the ink set, and technical assistance all being in a single package that offers complete peace of mind to the customer and that’s our value add.”

In the flesh

Speaking to the assembled media pack, McMullin confirmed Epson will be taking its full arsenal of equipment for the sign and graphics out on the road to both Sign and Digital UK at Birmingham’s NEC and FESPA Digital in Munich.

Looking to FESPA, Epson’s full range of SureColor printers will be demonstrated, which include: three 64" SureColor SC-S wide-format signage printers; three SureColor SC-F dye-sublimation printers (44 and 64”), including the new SureColour SC-F7100 and the SureColor SC-F2000 direct-to-garment printer.


The Epson SureColor SC-S70600 is one of Epson's flagship wide-format signage printers


In his interview with SignLink, McMullin also weighed in the scale of its offering at Sign and Digital UK: “We are very much looking forward to heading to the NEC, it’s a great location and we are expecting good visitor numbers. In addition to our flagship SureColor S series of wide-format printers, you will see the new dye-sublimation SC-F7100 there, as well as technology like our SC-F2000 t-shirt printer. We will also have a significant amount of finished product there demonstrating the range and breadth of applications that you can produce on Epson products.”

At the core

Having been given a guided tour of Epson UK HQ’s demonstration zones, and speaking to the engineers and product experts on hand to take the kit through its paces, there was one common denominator that stood out and seems to underpin Epson’s assured bravado—its printhead technology.

Launched in 2003, Micro Piezo was a big step forward and brought photo-printing into the consumer’s home for the first time. This printhead did big things for increasing speed, improving accuracy by reducing droplet size, and ultimately consistency of wide-format output. Epson’s next step in 2007 was to take it one step further and develop its Thin Film Piezo (TFP) system to further enhance ‘maximum control over drop size’ and push up productivity levels. The last step in this chain has been combining TFP with Epson’s PrecisionCore Micro TFP print chip—the result of one of the largest research and development investments in the company’s history.


These graphics were printed with an Epson S Series for the launch of a new James Bond exhibition, highlighting the creative potential of the latest wide-format print technology


Essentially, the system uses a 1-micron thin piezo actuator that acts like a pump to deposit ink with the highest levels of speed and precision currently possible for commercial products, and allows for further miniaturisation and a much broader scope for ink and substrate compatibility, allowing for the chips to be combined to produce printheads for everything from lineheads for industrial presses to serial printheads for desktop printers. The first products to use PrecisionCore are the SurePress L-6034V digital label press and the SureColor SC-F2000 direct-to-garment T-shirt printer.

There is a lot of work for us to do to get there, but we do have a long-term vision and we are in all of these markets to stay”

Seated interviewing McMullin after the crowds had dispersed from the Epson press day and with my tech-geek brain now truly bulging with information, he summed up the task ahead in achieving its goal of topping the print technology charts: “There is a lot of work for us to do to get there, but we do have a long-term vision and we are in all of these markets to stay.  We have started with a small portfolio, but there will be a lot of exciting, interesting, and innovative products to come.”
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