The Fogra Research Institute for Media Technologies recently assessed the ultra-high-speed, single-pass EFI Nozomi C18000 LED inkjet corrugated printer from Electronics For Imaging, Inc. according to the ISO 20690 energy standard and determined it to be the leading single-pass corrugated production device in terms of power consumption efficiency.
ISO 20690, a new standard based on a Fogra research project, provides guidance on how to measure electricity use in small- and wide-format digital presses printing in different modes of operation. It provides a means to compare energy efficiency according to the two extremes of machine configuration characteristics: Best Quality (slowest) and Best Productivity (fastest) production modes.
'The top in its class' for energy efficiency
According to Dr Andreas Kraushaar, the head of Fogra's prepress department, the Nozomi printer's results provide a promising perspective on energy savings using high-volume digital technology EFI designed to help packaging and corrugated display providers establish leaner, more-efficient production processes.
"For most print service providers, electrical energy is the largest and most expensive type of energy," Dr Kraushaar explained. "The new ISO 20690 provides, for the first time, a vendor-neutral definition of printed output per square metre per kilowatt hour to help print professionals make informed buying decisions. Based on the datasets in this category, the energy efficiency of the Nozomi C18000 can be attributed as the top in its class."
The digital printing and packaging industries are further embracing lean and green production as companies look for ways to reduce waste and increase profits throughout the supply chain. Energy efficiency adds value to the printing machine, lowering users' overall cost of ownership.
"The industry has already seen the real energy efficiency of EFI's LED technologies with previous Fogra research showing up to 82% less energy usage on EFI VUTEk superwide-format LED printers compared with mercury arc lamp UV curing," said José Luis Ramón Moreno, vice president and general manager, EFI Industrial Printing. "For the Nozomi C18000 printer, the use of our energy-efficient and highly stable LED curing technology brings some of this same important advantage to single-pass printing. The printer's efficiency based on ISO 20690 is yet another distinct competitive advantage packaging converters and corrugated display businesses gain with the industry's only single-pass, LED-cured corrugated solution and odourless EFI LED inks that deliver an extremely wide colour gamut."
Fogra is one of the leading print research institutes worldwide, serving the print and media industry since 1951. Fogra uniquely features the combination of applied research and qualifying software, hardware and "brainware," and is an active member of the ISO technical committee 130.
Photo caption: Dr Andreas Kraushaar (left) performing energy efficiency testing on the EFI Nozomi C18000 LED-inkjet single-pass printer based on the ISO 20690 energy standard developed by Fogra.
