Friday, 28 Aug 2015 21:11 GMT

Printers of Today

Printers can now work at staggering speeds however, Jo Golding asks: “How can super-fast wide-format solutions compete with printers that offer greater versatility?”

Plenty of choice

It is absolutely true that in the wide-format industry ‘one size does not fit all’ and you really should not expect it to. This is a very diverse industry producing a highly varied range of products on a tremendous variety of substrates. Printer manufacturers like us need to listen to our customers to understand exactly what they want to meet their production requirements and the buying needs of their customers. And these span a whole spectrum. It is all about getting the best performance from the technology to meet specific production needs.

Most large print service providers today will invest in a variety of printers to produce a variety of products. This gives them the flexibility to allocate a job to the device most suited to handling it. So you will find digital machines which specialise in printing on rigid materials at speed, printers which print ultra-high quality on rigid materials at slightly slower speeds, roll-fed printers which are dedicated to printing onto flexible materials, and printers that combine roll-fed and flat-bed printing.

Today’s jobs tend not to be long runs of the same graphic; they tend to be multiple short-run, mass customised jobs”


Companies today are increasingly focusing on how they manage jobs before they get to the press and building in versatility at that point. Today’s jobs tend not to be long runs of the same graphic; they tend to be multiple short-run, mass customised jobs. So the challenge for our customers is more about handling multiple files and setting up a day’s printing schedule to print efficiently. As a result, the front-end software and file handling capabilities, particularly for a fast digital machine, has become one of the critical elements. It needs to be able to cope with a wide variety of images and a large number of fairly small run lengths with minimum downtime. This allows the production team to schedule the days/mornings production to deliver the versatility that their customers require today.

Smaller firms need the comfort of a versatile machine while they build up their business to a point when they can afford to invest in a variety of specialist printers that complement one another. Giving our customers flexibility and choice of printing technology is very much our focus at Inca Digital with the Onset range.

Growth market


Peter Bray, managing director, Durst UK

Everybody wants to make their marketing collateral work harder and be far more appealing to the consumer.

Whether it is a huge billboard on the side of a building, a panel in a DIY store, or a high-resolution board in a museum, it has got to be a case of more for less where quality and speed is king.

The wide- and super wide-format industry is definitely a growth market with better profit margins. A big reason for this is speed. In many cases, our customers have to respond within 24 hours of receiving a job order and demand high quality. The ability to service this can be achieved only with equipment that is reliable with high consistency and versatility.

A recent InfoTrends wide-format report, Critical Element in the Communication Mix, pointed out that print speed is the biggest attraction for customers wanting new equipment. More than half the respondents said that speed was the top factor for investment.

The wide- and super wide-format industry is definitely a growth market with better profit margins”


This was way in front of the ability to print directly onto coated materials, while other factors further down the batting order were special functions (such as white and UV), requirements for additional capacity, the ability to print directly onto rigid substrates, requirement for more colours and variable data printing, and personalisation.

We are understandably proud of our Durst systems, which have taken the market by storm. Increasing numbers of our existing Durst customers are buying second machines, upgrading, or adding cutting solutions to automate finishing.

All of our customers comment on the outstanding quality, productivity, versatility, and reliability of our market-leading systems. Subject to the type of media used, customers run our systems unattended, often overnight.

The bottom line is that companies that have invested in the right systems and have a solid business and the right skills will be in a stronger position to grow their business. Speed will be critical.

Consider all factors


CaptionMarc Verbiest, international public relations manager, EFI

In the high-speed segment of wide-format digital print there are dedicated machines that offer combination capabilities, with a cut-off point that is generally accepted to be 3.2m width engines that are also designed and constructed to work with rigid substrates. While hybrid units are useful and extremely productive for sign-makers and display producers who want to concentrate on both types of output, there has been steady growth in demand for dedicated platforms that are configured specifically to handle reels, with a noticeable growth in popularity for 5m roll-to-roll platforms.

However, versatility is key across all types of production printer and there is no reason why this should not be combined in machines that carry the opportunity both for speed and high quality. Nonetheless, regardless of whether a platform is flat-bed, roll-fed or both, in simple terms the throughput rates will be governed by the numbers of passes and the required final resolution as will additions, such as white ink and clear varnish. The primary principle is that the end job must be fit for purpose and, as applications vary in end use, print service providers and display producers are able to choose whether the highest quality is required or if this is excessive for the type of work being throughput.

Throughput speed, therefore, is not the only element required for good productivity”

 
The available output options mean that print needed for close-viewing will generally need to be produced at a higher resolution than that required for a billboard or hoarding and which will only be seen from a distance. In addition, although machines are getting ever faster, the right digital front-end (DFE) is also a vital component within the overall workflow in order to prevent bottlenecks and to minimise down-time between jobs.

Versatility is based on many aspects, not only the printer. Efficient use of functions, experience, and sound initial training all play a part in job production, as does making sure the device has been maintained well and is in good running order. Some of the improvements to digital technology that influence workflow are automated load and unload, multi-roll options on wide- and super wide-format devices and continuous board printing on flat-bed engines. 

Throughput speed, therefore, is not the only element required for good productivity. The fastest printer in the world will not prevent bottlenecks at the finishing stage, for example, and nor will it be able to influence workflow parameters and RIPping proficiency. Users need to factor in all aspects of their operation in order to get the best from their machines, their software, and their operators.

Economies of scale


Dominic Fahy, business group manager display graphics systems and imaging supplies, Canon


Canon is one of the market leaders in high-volume production wide-format printing, and we have a number of different technologies in this field. Choosing the right combination of versatility versus high speed is an important factor. Versatile machines are becoming higher speed and high speed machines are becoming more versatile. Canon demonstrates this through the ColorWave 700 which is an extraordinarily versatile wide-format roll fed system capable of speeds of up to 200sq m/h and the Arizona flat-bed range which offer a huge amount of versatility in combination with the roll media option.

We also have the ColorWave 900 which prints at 1,000sq m/h and is a single-pass water-based technology. It can hold six different rolls of paper-based media at any one time. This means it will not do canvases and banners like the ColorWave 700, and as a result it is mainly used for things like maps, very large poster roll outs that need incredibly quick turnarounds, and of course architectural drawings. Its poster capability is the most attractive facet for the sign-making market, as it opens up the possibility to carry out work for very large supermarket and retail chains that require very large orders across many sites.

Versatile machines are becoming higher speed and high speed machines are becoming more versatile”

 
Although the investment is higher initially on technology like the ColorWave 900, the running costs are typically lower. Super-speed does of course reduce a machine’s versatility, but it opens up some very attractive business opportunities for sign-makers. It allows them to very significantly reduce their time to market and say yes to customers who want thousands of prints ready in time for their promotions or launches—even on a next day basis. The other fundamental advantage of a very high speed machine is you can increase the capacity of your business, which ultimately drives business growth.

Advising customers of the best solution, depends on their application volumes and future aspirations, so it is important to understand our customer needs and their business development perspective in what is a very dynamic market.



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