Reading-based digital printer VgL has ordered an Inca Onset S20 flatbed digital printer from Fujifilm Sericol which will be installed in October.  The machine is the latest purchase in the company's continuous cycle of investment.  "The Inca Onset S20 will change the landscape of what we do", says VgL managing director Michael Ayerst.  "It will add considerable capacity and allow us not only to grow our small and medium run volume display business, but also expand into and offer a competitive service on longer runs."

VgL already has an extensive plant list that includes the UK's first Inca Eagle in its two Reading factories, one of which houses digital printing and the other screen printing employing 75 staff between them.  The company produces a diverse range of work from labels to building wraps, including the widest format photographic output in the UK, and high quality textile and wallpaper printing.

"If someone is buying print from one of the hundreds of smaller flatbed machines, then they are not buying the right thing", says Ayerst.  "They should be buying output from the Inca Onset S20 as it will be better value, it will be quicker and it will be higher quality."

The VgL Inca Onset S20 uses Fujifilm Sericol's 6-colour Ultratone Uvijet inks with orange and violet to produce a wide colour gamut.  "Adding Ultratone is really important to us", says Ayerst.  "We work a lot with fashion retailers and a close colour match is critical as the point of sale must match the garment.  With Ultratone it is easy to get a much closer match than before."  Another feature that is expected to prove popular with customers is the Inca Onset S20's ability to produce a variety of gloss finishes, from satin through to high gloss.  This is achieved by the curing process rather than the addition of a separate varnish.

The Inca Onset S20 features printheads on a full print width colour bar producing high-quality resolution of 600-1,000 dpi.  It can handle substrates up to 50mm thick with a maximum image area of 3.14m x 1.6m, at speeds up to 250sqm/hr, or 50 full bed sheets per hour.  The combination of Inca Digital's engineering expertise plus innovative ink formulation means that the Inca Onset S20 is an excellent fit for companies operating 24/7.

"We know from seeing our Eagle being built at the factory in Cambridge that Inca machines are fantastic pieces of engineering", says Ayerst.  "When we look to invest in a machine, we want quality and consistency and that's what that engineering gives.  Our customers need to know that the machine will be up and running reliably and that the quality will be consistent, and with the Inca Onset S20 it will be."

VgL's recent investment in a Kongsberg digital cutting table puts support in place to handle the increase in output.  "Our customers know that they can throw us almost any task and it is no problem", says Ayerst. "Whether it is wrapping a building, wrapping a van or a big retail point of sale, we have an awful lot of flexibility and technical expertise and equipment to cope with it."

The company has invested heavily in keeping its kit up to date and believes its customers keep coming back because they are confident of the quality, speed and reliable service they will receive.  "We are probably better at making sure that we have the right equipment base than we are at marketing ourselves", says Ayerst.  "Our customers already know that we can fulfil their requirements to the standard that they want and the Inca Onset S20 will give them even more confidence, with its increased output and quality."

Mimaki‘s exclusive distributors for the UK and Ireland, Hybrid Services Ltd, are offering an above-market-value £8,000 when customers trade in their existing baby grand format Mimaki printer against one of the new JV33-260 models.

With a list price of just £39,995, the JV33-260 is already excellent value – given its combination of print quality, speed and production features – and its fully inclusive, two year Gold warranty means customers who take advantage of this promotion are benefiting not only from a significant discount, but also effectively cover the cost of their old service contract too.

The Mimaki JV33-260S shares the class leading print quality of Mimaki’s current solvent printer range and produces vibrant, long lasting output onto banner, vinyl, paper, canvas and many other materials using the Mimaki SS21 low odour, full solvent inkset. Capable of running in high speed mode (with the 4 colour inkset), or taking advantage of Mimaki’s bright, opaque white ink in hi-fi mode (6 colour plus white) its built in big ink system means long production runs are possible without needing to pause for replenishing inks.

Coupled to this are the machine’s impressive powered feed and take-up unit that ensure consistent tracking of media across the full 2,600mm print width. The JV33-260 ships with Mimaki’s RasterLink Pro SG RIP software – a 16 bit, full PostScript application, that features powerful production tools and deals effortlessly with the types of files associated with grand format reproduction.

Hybrid’s National Sales Manager, John de la Roche tells us; “It’s important to get in touch without delay, as the promotion is only due to run during October. We’ve got a demonstration machine in our showroom, and we look forward to helping our customers trade up to the latest, fastest and best printer in its class.”

 Roland DG UK Roadshow 2009

• Tue 6th & Wed 7th October (Roland DG Headquarters, Clevedon)
• Thu 8th & Fri 9th October (Roland DG Academy, Walsall)
• Tues 20th October (Holiday Inn, Southampton)
• Wed 21st October (Hilton Kensington, Central London, Shepherds Bush)
• Tues 3rd November (Haydock Park, Haydock)
• Thurs 5th November (Hilton Strathclyde, Cumbernauld)

Roland DG UK will shortly be taking to the road in order to show the prototype of the new, revolutionary SolJet PRO III XC-540MT metallic inkjet printer, before it’s even released in the UK.

Alongside this exciting new technology, the roadshow will also feature the new SP-i series of affordable VersaCAMMs and the AdvancedJET AJ-740i for all of those who are producing high volume prints onto banner, mesh, vinyl etc, with these machines cited as being applicable to any sign and display print producer looking looking to save money and increase production.

The new and improved VersaUV LEC-330 will also be on show to demonstrate the amazing textures and special effects that can add real value to your print production portfolio, as well as its fantastic CMYK + White + Gloss proofing capabilities.

In order to book a demo on these new machines or indeed on any Roland product, please call 01275 335540 or email sales@rolanddg.co.uk

The pending roadshows are your opportunity to see these fabulous printers in action, and see how Roland can help you to make more money.

HP has announced the success of its new wide-format printer using HP Latex Inks in the United Kingdom; with seven HP Designjet L65500 printers installed since its launch at drupa 2008 last May.

Over 120 units of the HP Designjet L65500 Printer have been installed in Europe, Middle East and Africa and the worldwide response has also been strong.

The HP Designjet L65500 Printer was specifically designed with the environment in mind and is the first printer to feature HP Latex Printing Technologies, including HP Latex Inks and HP Wide Scan Printing Technology. To support the ‘printing with the environment in mind' program, a range of recyclable substrates is also available, providing additional environmental benefits. The HP Designjet L65500 Printer enables print service providers (PSPs) to increase their print capacity and grow their business whilst also reducing environmental impact. Compliant with industry-leading certification, Nordic Swan, HP Latex Inks do not produce ozone emissions during printing and contain no hazardous air pollutants. This means improved working environments for PSPs and a greater range of places—especially indoor locations—where graphics can be used.

In the UK, JKN Digital, of Preston; Kingfisher Graphics, of Stockport; Raccoon, of Edenbridge, Kent; and Stylo, of Watford, are amongst customers who have all installed HP Designjet L65500 Printers to cater to different markets, reduce turnaround times, and improve print quality.

"Like us, many of our clients have become increasingly aware of environmental issues and have a desire to reduce their carbon footprint," said Simon Wheeler, operations director at Stylo. "To help us achieve this, Stylo is launching an eco-friendly print package. This is the major reason for choosing the HP Designjet L65500 Printer. It will give our clients the real choice of eco-friendly printing for all situations—exterior or interior and on a wide variety of recycled or recyclable materials. The speed of the printer helps us to continue to provide fast turn-arounds at a high quality."

Raccoon, part of the Raccoon Group, specialises in vehicle graphics, which are printed at its Edenbridge, Kent, facility for installation at sites around the country.

"We installed the HP Designjet L65500 Printer because we wanted to get rid of solvents," said Richard Clark, managing director, Raccoon. "Not only does the elimination of solvents improve working conditions, but over time, solvents can affect the performance quality of vehicle graphics. We've also found other benefits. We save between 36 - 48 hours on jobs because the need for off gassing is eliminated; we can laminate as soon as printing has finished, which makes us more productive, and we're using some of the time saved to improve quality control."

Further installations of HP Designjet L65500 printers are underway in the UK.

"HP Latex Ink technology offers revolutionary new choices to sign and display PSPs," said Nancy Janes, sign and display country manager, UK and Ireland, HP. "The HP Designjet L65500 Printer has found a market very quickly, in the UK and around the world. New technologies can take a long time to become accepted, but the many benefits of this printer are clearly responding to market demands."

Among other dealers, the HP Designjet L65500 Printer is now also available from i-Sub Digital, of Lutterworth, Leicestershire. The company recently added the printer to its portfolio of large-format printers.

"As dealers, we've been keen to add a more environmentally acceptable solution for our customers and their customers who share our concerns about the environment," said Andy Spreag, director, i-Sub Digital. "We believe that HP Latex Inks have a great future, and that the HP Designjet L65500 Printer is a productive and versatile machine capable of printing on both water and solvent based media at high speeds. It is therefore suitable for both indoor and outdoor applications achieving the quality required for both and with the durability and abrasion resistance normally only achievable with solvent inks. We believe it will receive great interest from customers looking for an alternative to solvent inks."

Image Access from Wuppertal, Germany has presented the first wide format duplex scanner at the DMS Expo in Cologne.

The WideTEK 36 DS is the world’s first wide format scanner for duplex digitalisation of double-sided printed documents. The very compact WideTEK 36 DS needs only four seconds to scan the front and back sides of a newspaper page (at 200 dpi).
 
image_access.jpgThe large format duplex scanner WideTEK 36 DS scans documents up to 36 inches (915 mm) in width. The idea of double-sided scanning in one production step primarily means less production effort: The document no longer needs to be flipped over and scanned again on the other side. The scanners feature two camera boxes, both consisting of three CCD systems, integrated into upper and lower part of the device – only a few centimeters from each other.

The WideTEK 36 DS captures both sides of the original at the same time. As a final step, the software separates the scanned document into four single images, capturing the left and right sides on the front and back of the newspaper – everything in one step.

The entire scan process – from scanning, image processing up to image display – can therefore be considerably reduced.

“The greatest challenge in the development and construction was to integrate the more extensive mechanics and additional camera and light units into the device without enlarging its dimensions. The duplex scanner is only 13 centimetres larger than the compact WideTEK 36”, said Thomas Ingendoh, President and CEO of Image Access.

The scanner is equipped with two processor units allowing an extremely fast data throughput. All image processing is executed directly inside the scanner. This results in high scan speed and excellent scan quality.

Gerber Scientific Products Inc. has launched its new flatbed digital die-cutting system, the M Turbo.

"The M Turbo is an important new product in the M Series family. The M Turbo features a more powerful, 1-kilowatt electric router that will expand any shop's capabilities. The M Turbo allows you to rout .080 aluminum and thick rigid materials up to 1-inch thick, such as wood and acrylic. It can also rout thinner rigid boards, like aluminum composite materials, up to 4 times faster than our standard M Series router," said Steve Albert, Gerber's senior strategic accounts manager.

"In addition to the more powerful router, the Gerber M Turbo flatbed cutter offers new software improvements that allow the user to control the rpms at which the M Turbo routs, giving even greater flexibility to our customers. The high-powered router head is configured into the M Series T3 Tool Head design, so the M Trubo still takes advantage of all of all the standard M Series tools, such as the reciprocating knife, crease wheel, tangential knives and more.

"The new M Turbo will have all the strengths that the other M Series cutters already enjoy, such as the robust table construction design, the M-Vision optical registration system which ensures accurate print-to-cut registration and the zoned vacuum system which allows for accurate material hold down," said Albert. "The Gerber M Turbo flatbed cutter is a complete turnkey system that includes everything you need to run the machine in production."