Comments FESPA MD Neil Felton: ‘Feedback from visitors and exhibitors has been overwhelmingly positive. Our aim to provide PSPs inspiration to explore the wider opportunities of print certainly seemed to resonate with visitors who voiced appreciation of FESPA’s sharp sector focus and our expert business-led content. We’re committed to investing in the success of our community, and bringing fun and vitality to each FESPA event.’
The next European FESPA expo is FESPA 2013, the flagship global ‘screen + digital + textile’ event, which takes place at ExCEL London from June 25 to 29 2013.
FESPA Digital returns in 2014, running from May 20 to 23 in Munich, German
Revolutionary printers from Mimaki
Mimaki Engineering, manufacturer of wide-format inkjet printers, represented locally by Graphix Supply World, was among the exhibitors, demonstrating five revolutionary printers, three of which were seen for the first time.
Aimed at the textile printing market was Mimaki’s flagship inkjet printer, the TS500-1800, said to be the fastest dye-sublimation printer in the world, printing at 150m2/h, using SB300 sublimation ink and a degassing module for unparalleled performance and productivity.
Another new inkjet dye-sublimation printer shown was theTS34-1800A, specifically for the transfer market, featuring two newly-developed, staggered print heads for high-quality printing up to 32m2/h. According to Mimaki, its improved productivity thanks to unattended continuous printing makes this the best value-for-money textile printer on the market.
For the UV market, Mimaki showed the UJF-3042HG desktop LED UV inkjet printer featuring maximum height for printing materials up to 150mm thick. Six-colour printing is possible with the addition of two ink slots and white and clear. A newly developed white ink circulation system, the MCT (Mimaki Circulation Technology) prevents pigment sedimentation and reduces ink waste. This printer can print directly on to rigid substrates such as phone covers, USB sticks, golf balls, pens, fridge magnets, ID cards and more.
Moving to solvent UV, Mimaki’s JV400-130/160SUV (pictured below) combines the flexibility of solvent with the durability of UV cured inks, delivering a smooth, glossy result that’s durable, vibrant and flexible. It’s ideal for banners, pull-ups and displays – or any application where a combination of vibrant colour and long-lasting, scratch-resistant print is important.
The fifth new machine, the JV400-130/160LX, is Mimaki’s first latex printer, using environmentally friendly latex ink.
According to Mimaki, the JV400LX latex printer surpasses the competition with its low operating costs, low curing temperatures (between 40 and 60?C, compared to 80 and100?C), long lasting Piezo print heads (between one and two years compared to thermal print heads that need replacing every four litres), and exceptional print quality thanks to minimum dot size of 4 picolitres, and the ability to use variable sized ink dots for smooth gradation.
‘These ground-breaking printers allow end-users more choice for less money. Better quality, better value, better options, better savings and better environmentally-friendly technology, resulting in lower production costs, greater efficiency and greater opportunity for profit,’ comments Mike Horsten, Mimaki Europe’s marketing manager.
More product releases can be expected from Mimaki at drupa.
Roland DG presents product innovations
Another star was Roland DG’s VersaUV LEJ-640, the company’s first UV flatbed/roll-to-roll printer with a maximum print width of 1 625mm. This hybrid printer is capable of printing CMYK, white and varnish on a wide variety of flexible materials and rigid media up to 13mm thick. Versatile by design, the LEJ-640 allows professionals to create a multitude of applications, from large-format banners, displays and window graphics to packaging prototypes and interior decoration items.
Visitors to Roland DG’s stand also saw the VersaStudio BN-20, a desktop printer/cutter that combines the versatility of Roland DG’s Print & Cut with metallic inks into one compact and affordable device designed for both experienced professionals and for those new to the digital printing business.
The VersaCAMM VS-series consists of four models capable of printing spectacular effects when producing signs, billboards, posters, vehicle wraps, labels, POP, decorative items, and so on. These popular printer/ cutters also took centre stage on Roland DG’s stand. Utilising some of the company’s latest technology, the innovative VersaCAMMs are compatible with the award-winning ECO-SOL MAX metallic ink.
Visitors also saw the latest in digital textile printing for merchandising products (mouse pads, lanyards, bags, shirts), as well as banners, textile posters, sportswear and interior decoration items. These textile solutions allow end-users to expand their business opportunities, optimise cost of production, and offer quality products to their customers in a sustainable and environmentally-friendly way.
During the exhibition the VersaArt RS-640S sublimation solution was showcased. This allows end-users to maximise production while controlling quality and minimising costs while differentiating their businesses from competition by offering colourful and vivid labels on textile, clothing and elements of interior decoration.
Automated print Purchasing
Seen for the first time in February, at FESPA in Barcelona, is the new Optimus Cloud suite of modules.
Nicola Bisset, Optimus’s group MD, comments: ‘We’re excited about the launch of Optimus Cloud which offers a complete solution for an integrated on-line trading experience and harnesses the power of Optimus dash and Optimus 2020.’
According to Nicola, Optimus Cloud was developed following extensive research and demand from worldwide print sectors. ‘We’re entering a new age of seamless and intuitive approaches to simplify and automate print purchasing with instant access to information. Print providers continue to look for solutions, through automation, to cut unnecessary costs and find ways to maintain customer loyalty,’ Nicola adds.
Optimus Cloud is designed to combat issues faced by print providers using traditional on-line ordering tools largely in isolation. Although a good experience for the buyer, the print provider incurs hidden costs in unnecessary administration and duplication. Optimus Cloud integrates with Optimus dash and Optimus 2020, eradicating these issues.
Taking an holistic approach to viewing stock availability, ordering stock items, raising fully-specified production jobs, automating quotes and automatically receiving orders, Optimus Cloud also enables customers to view previous jobs and invoices and check the status of jobs.
The suite of modules includes Optimus Cloud Variable Data Orders that goes far beyond business cards and stationery products and offers seamless integration with Adobe InDesign.
The suite also offers Optimus Cloud Fast Orders, to unify and provide customers with complete control of their branding; Optimus Cloud Stock Orders offers finished goods available to order on-line; and Optimus Cloud Stock Orders, which enables customers to view stock levels and orders on-line. Additionally, Optimus Cloud Fast Quotes incorporates the attributes of Optimus dash for instant, accurate and consistent quotations, while Optimus Cloud Customer View provides simple and easy access for print buyers to view financial and production information including invoices, jobs in production, jobs finished and delivered, quotations, stock levels and job history. Customers are also able to re-order based on historical jobs.
According to Nicola, Optimus Cloud, built as a modular system, is in keeping with the Optimus ethos that one size does not fit all. This means print buyers are easily able to complete multiple tasks and order multiple products from each part of the system in one order.
