The Borough’s Document Centre and Mailroom employs 14 full time staff and runns two Ricoh colour digital presses, several Kyocera MFDs, an HP large format plotter, a Polar guillotine, a Stahl folder, a Citoborma drill and an FSN numbering machine. Its relationship with KAS dates back to 1990, when bought two inserters, when the Community Charge (better remembered as the Poll Tax) was introduced.

Subsequent outsourcing of what became the Council Tax resulted in the replacement of the two original KAS machines in 2001 with a DL to C5 Mailmaster 565. Simon Hime, manager of the Document Centre and Mailroom, explains, ‘Although the Mailmaster 565 was still running well after more than 20 years, it was starting to show its age at times, and it couldn’t insert into C4 envelopes. So when KAS offered a showroom demonstration of their Mailmaster Compact, which can do C4 as well as C5 and DL, we jumped at the opportunity, bringing our own letters and envelopes to test on the machine. Following a successful demonstration, the machine was ordered and delivered in late summer this year [2023].’

Mr Hime commented that he and his team had been impressed with how quickly they were trained on the new machine and with a follow-up engineer visit. The machine’s performance has been more than satisfactory too, he said: ‘It’s been absolutely fine. As well as now being able to insert C4 envelopes, the Compact eats up, with changeovers in minutes, our multiple short-run jobs, including pre-folded A1-size planning applications, stapled sets and thicker books up to 7mm, often at up to the maximum speed of 6000 envelopes per hour.’

Possible future developments include retrofitting a KAS letter feeder with code reading to support election-related work or hybrid mailings. 

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Some technical details have been released between the two companies. Kyocera says the press will print on offset paper for a range of typical high quality commercial products, and that its reliability, durability and low acquisition and running costs are ‘set to exceed the expectations of customers in the printing industry’. Support for offset papers is achieved by use of Screen’s SC/SC+ inks, which the Japanese company uses in its web-fed Truepress Jet 520 line; Screen stressed that this is a joint development project, suggesting that both inks and printheads have been optimised to work together.

The press is said to achieve ‘comparable print quality to offset printing’ with high print durability and ‘smooth and rich ‘colour reproduction and high-definition printing via 1200dpi Kyocera printheads, supported by edge-smoothing technology for fine detail and text outline reproduction. Kyocera also claims a ‘class-leading compact design’, though no dimensions were given; the image supplied by Kyocera does look more like a mid/high-production toner press than some of the existing sheet-fed inkjet alternatives, however. A lowered total cost of ownership is also promised by Kyocera..

According to Screen, the new press will offer similar throughput to Kyocera’s existing TaskAlfa 15000c, at 150 A4ppm simplex, though at full 1200 x 1200dpi resolution as opposed to the 15000c’s 600 x 600dpi. Input paper capacity is stated by Screen to be 6100 sheets standard, expandable to 11,810 and output 5000 sheets standard and maximum 10,000. A Fiery DFE/controller will be included.

Screen is pitching the press as complementary to its CtP systems for offset and Truepress Jet 520HD web-fed inkjets, supporting integration with its Equios workflow and  indicated that its version of the press and its applications will be developed differently. The announcement marks Screen’s first venture into sheet-fed inkjet since the its B2 Truepress Jet SX, which was announced at drupa 2008 as a duplexing competitor to Fujifilm’s original JetPress 720S but subsequently dropped around 2016. It is also an expansion of Kyocera’s ambitions as a press vendor in its own right, with the mono version of the TaskAlfa launched earlier in 2023, and a novel textile printer, the Forearth, which also embodies a strong environmental aspect, introduced at ITMA 2023.

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Based on the existing colour model, the new press is said to be highly efficient and economical. It uses Kyocera’s proprietary inkjet technology and large print heads to enable fast single-pass printing and can be powered from a standard 13A socket, using up to 70% less power than laser-based counterparts.

Martin Fairman, group aales & marketing director at Kyocera UK, said, ‘The TaskAlfa Pro 15000c/B is a robust addition to our production print portfolio and will ensure more customers with high-volume print requirements can get their work done efficiently and at the lowest possible cost. 

‘Sustainability is a crucial consideration for us at Kyocera, and we always want to ensure this philosophy shines through in our products. The TaskAlfa Pro 15000c/B is another significant step forward in this endeavour, as it enables customers to fulfil their print needs without worrying about environmental cost.’

UK customers can benefit from two climate protection initiatives in partnership with PrintReleaf and MyClimate: Kyocera will plant one tree for every 8333 sheets printed on their inkjet device, and carbon offset the production and transportation of the printer plus genuine consumables for its standard rated lifetime. MyClimate invests in international projects assessed by Gold Standard as contributing to carbon reduction and the UN’s sustainable development goals. PrintReleaf is a certified reforestation partner.

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Over the years, Hunkeler’s eponymous Innovationdays event has become an important platform for the continuous feed digital printing industry to coalesce around, attracting all the major press manufacturers as well as a variety of software developers, and providing a highly focused gathering for this part of the digital printing industry.

Almost 100 partners will also present their latest products in all areas of digital printing and processing in Halls 1 and 2 at the Messe Luzern. These partners include all the major manufacturers of printing and finishing systems, software developers and providers of finishing materials and consumables. As in previous years, many of the exhibitors will use the event to offer a European or global premiere of their latest innovations. A selection of these is listed below.

Exhibitor highlights

Mailroom automation for transactional print and direct mail will be the focus of the Bowe Systec stand, with a particular focus on the Fusion Speed inserting system, which will have its first ever live demonstration in Lucerne. The inserter can process up to 30,000 envelopes per hour and will be demonstrated in conjunction with Bowe’s Boxit system for automatic filling of postal trays. The company will also explain how upstream and downstream stages can be streamlined as part of an end-to-end automation concept.

Canon is playing its cards close to its chest but has promised two product news announcements at the event which ‘build on Canon’s expertise in inkjet’. Topics to be discussed also include the company’s strategy and how technology and business innovation can be harnessed together help ‘future-proof’ PSPs’ operations; the focus will be on publishing, promotion and business communications.

Another premiere at Innovationdays will be on HP’s stand, where the recently-launched PageWide Advantage 2200 digital web press will make it first European appearance. During the four days of the event, HP will be printing different applications such as postcards, leaflets, catalogues and books on a variety of substrates on the 150m/min press. In addition, the US company will showcase automation and services solutions.

Hybrid Software Group will feature its technologies for industrial print manufacturing processes which use inkjet and other printing techniques, showcasing all its brands covering the full stack of core technologies needed for inkjet. These include colour management, high-speed Digital Front Ends and Rips, pre-press software for labels and packaging and printhead drive electronics. All the group brands will be represented: ColorLogic; Global Graphics Software; Hybrid Software; iC3D; Meteor Inkjet and Xitron.

Converting and high quality embellishment will be the theme of the Kama stand, which will feature the Servo generation of the ProCut 76 Foil. The machine suits a range of applications from die-cutting, creasing and perforating to embellishment with hot foil, hologram and relief for commercial jobs and folding cartons. It will be shown with the AutoRegister AR3, which uses two cameras to bring each sheet into position at full speed.

Kern will present the new Kern 3200 Flash, a modular multi-format inserting system designed for flexible and complex inserting jobs in the medium- to high-output range. Different configuration options make it suitable for use in transactional and direct mail. A newly-developed inserting module is said to be the only system in this performance class that can be equipped with more than one envelope magazine, allowing the system to process different envelopes job by job, without the operator having to make a physical change. The 3200 Flash can be combined with a choice of modules, including roll and single sheet feeding. It is also possible to integrate up to 16 inserting stations.

Kodak’s Prosper Ultra 520 will get its first European showing

Another European first will be the Prosper Ultra 520 web press from Kodak. To be shown with a Hunkeler unwinder and rewinder, along with the Hunkeler WI8 web inspection system, the press will print live three versions of a ‘magalog’ (blend of magazine and catalogue) with different editorial and marketing content. The application will demonstrate the Ultra 520’s ability to print heavy ink coverage on standard offset paper at 150m/min. Other finished samples from the Ultra 520 and from the Prosper 7000 Turbo press, which runs at up to 410m/min, will also be presented, along with Kodak’s Prinergy On Demand workflow software.

Kyocera will feature its TaskAlfa Pro 15000C sheet-fed inkjet press, with a focus on its sustainability credentials, productivity, output quality and media flexibility. One-to-one demonstrations are being offered. More information may also be available about the graphic-arts focused version that is understood to be in development.

Another world first in Lucerne is the arrival of the Prinova Digital Saddle stitcher from Müller Martini. The highly automated 9000 cycles per hour unit supports both digital and hybrid print production and brings Müller’s Smart Factory concept to magazines, brochures and catalogues. Developments to the Vareo Pro perfect binding line will also be shown, including a mixed mode that allows softcover books and hardcover book blocks to be produced in the same run, complemented by a new de-stacker and sorting for subsequent InfiniTrim cutting. A variety of live jobs, including all-digital and hybrid printed products, will be featured, along with the supporting Connex workflow.

Workflow developer OneVision will explain how its software allows for ‘a complete integration of company processes’ by being configured to suit existing systems. The modular middleware can automate the production process from file input through printing and embellishment and finishing, while connecting to existing print and finishing hardware and software such as MIS or ERP.

Ricoh will be making the first public showing of its Pro VC70000e inkjet press that includes a number of hardware and software features and updates which collectively increase ease of use through automation, while providing greater media and applications flexibility via pre-coating. This will be complemented by the introduction of TotalFlow Producer, which the company describes as a ‘vendor agnostic automated job onboarding solution’. The new workflow software designed to automate job intake and consolidation from multiple sources, to run automatic pre-flighting and to support personalised job upload and status portals for print clients.

Riso will feature its newest additions to the SRA3 Valezus sheet-fed inkjet line, which are targeted at production print job demands that are difficult to handle efficiently on continuous-feed presses. The twin-engined Valezus T2200 is capable of duplex printing at 330ppm. The single-engine Valezus T1200 is aimed at both short and long-run full-colour transactional printing at 165ppm. Both are equipped with feeder/stacker units for a maximum capacity of 8000 sheets on the T2200, and half that on the T2100. Both models support uncoated papers only, from 46 to 210gsm.

The Smart High Definition technology from Scodix will appear in the premiere of the Ultra 6000 embellishment press

Also making a first European appearance will be the Ultra 6000 digital embellishment press from Scodix with SHD (smart high definition) capability. It will be used to demonstrate embellishment of B1 and B2 sheets for a variety of book covers, from paperbacks to high-end jackets and Scodix says it embodies the economics and productivity to replace analogue embellishment technology whilst offering publishers greater flexibility. Examples of the SHD technology will also be shown.

Staff from Solimar Systems will demonstrate how its workflow-enhancing post-composition solutions support production printing on both cut-sheet and continuous feed devices, finishing, mailing, e-delivery and document archiving. The company is partnering with HP to show how direct mailers can save significant sums and with Screen to demonstrate dashboard tracking of incoming work and device-level ink and media consumption reporting via Screen’s Equios workflow.

W+D will use the event to launch its new BB820+, a new flagship inserter which the company says allows for the widest range of direct mail sizes, from C6 envelopes up to B4 flat packages up to 15mm thick, and which can insert at up to 20,000 piece per hour, 25% faster than the model it replaces. The new machine comes with a new rotary feeder for consistent feeding at the higher speeds and an additional servo axis for flexible and size-dependent motion control of collating track, envelope gripper transport andinsert finger.

Short-run book printing using the Sirius dry toner technology will form a major part of the Xeikon exhibit, centred on the roll-fed duplex Xeikon SX30000 press, which is also getting its first public European showing. Three high-end applications will be shown – a coffee-table travel book, a full colour tourist guide and a highly illustrated book on architecture. The SX30000 roll-fed press will be running in line with a Hunkeler Gen8 roll-to-stack solution, producing book blocks which to be bound on an offline Muller Martini Vareo Pro with InfiniTrim.

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Designed to produce up to 1 million A4 print jobs per month, the TASKalfa prints at 150ppm and at a resolution of 600 x 600dpi, making it suitable for transactional, transpromo and direct mail applications. It supports paper sizes ranging from A6 to SRA3 and weights between 56 and 360gsm. There is also an optional Fiery DFE available to optimise colour and boost productivity.

‘This marks a milestone for Kyocera,’ said head of product marketing Michele Mabilia. ‘The TASKalfa Pro 15000c is the result of our decades of experience in the production print sector. We have an established pedigree in the manufacture of inkjet print technology with our printheads already being utilised across a number of direct-to-garment and existing production print platforms.

‘The impressively productive machine is ideally suited for a wide range of production print environments including central reprographic departments and transactional/trans-promotional applications.’

The printer has input space for over 14,000 sheets for extended unattended operation and also has strong environmental credentials, offering 6.3 kWh/week for Typical Electricity Consumption (TEC).

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Manufacturers and suppliers are doing a better job, particularly publicly traded companies with an eye to their shareholders’ concerns. Fujifilm, HP and Ricoh for instance have corporate wide sustainability policies, although only Ricoh has a specific plan for the graphics sector with its Carbon Balanced Printing initiative. We are starting to see more commitments to improve environmental impact, however, and the latest is Kyocera’s Green Curtains programme. It’s quite creative: growing plants on the outer surfaces of external walls and windows.

Kyocera has found that the strategy helps keep buildings cooler, reducing the need for air conditioning in offices and manufacturing plants. Blocking out sunlight in this way has apparently seen internal temperatures come down by a couple of degrees Celsius. According to the company’s data collected from 27 corporate sites, a square metre of green curtain can “neutralise” 3.4kg of carbon dioxide per year. Kyocera’s 2900sqm of Green Curtains absorb 10,000kg of carbon dioxide every year. The scheme has been running since 2007 and to date the company reckons to have absorbed over 100,000kg.

This amount is equivalent to the emissions of about 1430 cars every year. Kyocera is taking it further by planting fruit and vegetables that can be used in company cafeterias or given to employees. Kyocera is also providing seedlings for employees, so that they can plant their own Green Curtains at home.

The idea of roof gardens isn’t particularly new, but planting to essentially drape a building with greenery takes it one step further. It’s an easy way to cut emissions when the sun is burning bright and strong, and an even easier way to signal environmental commitment. It’s probably also a good step to take for pollinating insects, such as bees. The cost of setting up and maintaining such a planting scheme is probably covered with the energy savings in hot climates, but where the weather is less clement that may not be the case. Nonetheless Kyocera should be commended for this initiative and for its commitment to actually making a difference instead of simply talking about it.

– Laurel Brunner

This article was produced by the Verdigris Project, an industry initiative intended to raise awareness of print’s positive environmental impact. This weekly commentary helps printing companies keep up to date with environmental standards, and how environmentally friendly business management can help improve their bottom lines. Verdigris is supported by the following companies: Agfa Graphics, EFI, Fespa, Fujifilm, HP, Kodak, Ricoh, Spindrift, Splash PR, Unity Publishing and Xeikon.

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At a press conference yesterday the company’s founder Benny Landa revealed the company’s first presses. The process has been under development for eight years, he revealed, funded in part by the payment he received after selling his original Indigo digital press company to HP in 2002.

Target markets for the Nanographic presses are ‘mainstream’ commercial print and packaging work. According to Mr Landa, today’s digital printing procsses only have a 2% market penetration worldwide. ‘We’re going after the other 98%,’ he said, though he qualified this as still meaning relatively short run printing.

Although Mr Landa is claiming that Nanography will have the lowest cost per copy of any digital process, partly because standard papers and plastics can be printed, he admits that offset will still cost less for long runs.

The run up to the show also saw licensing agreements for the Landa technology announced by the offset press makers Heidelberg and manroland sheetfed. Two weks ago Komori announced a similar licensing agreement and revealed that it was providing the media transport hardware for Landa’s own presses.

Landa itself is announcing three sheet fed and three web presses. Sheet fed models are the  B3 format S5 (for 11,000 sheets per hour simplex, 5500 simplex), B2 (8800 to 12,000 sph simplex, 4400 to 6000 duplex S7 and B1 S7 (6500 to 13,000 simplex, 3,250 to 6500 duplex. The S7 will be available in configurations for either commercial print or folding packaging. Commercial models take paper from 60 to 350 g/m2.

The web presses are the 560 mm web W5 for 100 to 200 metres per minute simplex, the 1020 mm web W10 running at the same speed, and the 560 mm W50 for up to 200 metres per minute duplex. First shipments are expected at the end of 2013 or possibly into 2014.

Several of the presses are being demonstrated at drupa, starting today. They are printing sample work, although though company founder Benny Landa pointed out that they are not yet perfected and there is some way to go on image quality and other bugs. This is why production machines won’t ship for another 18 months or so, he said.

The presses will be able to print up to eight colours, including special security inks. Resolution can be 600 x 600 or 1200 x 600 dpi with ‘multiple grey levels.’

Externally the presses are relatively short, but wide, so they have a more or less square footprint. The web models have external reel unwinders and rewinders, while the sheet fed models have integral pile feeders and deliveries.

What is most striking about the exterior is that the whole of the operator’s side looks like a huge touch panel, with interactive displays of the machine status, job lists, current job previews, and contextual touch controls. This is an entirely new way of controlling a press. Magnets are used to attach pull sheets from the press next to visual displays of the job images.

The Landa Nanography process has still not yet been fully explained. What has been revealed is that it is a modified inkjet process that uses NanoInk, a water based ink containing ultra fine particles, said to be ‘tens of nanometres’ across. Ths is initally printed onto a heated blanket belt and then transferred to the substrate. The result is said to promote almost instant drying.

As a result, no special coating is needed for the paper, which can be virtually any type, from uncoated to gloss, as well as plastics for packaging. Sheets emerge dry from the press so duplex printing and immediate finishing can be performed. Landa claims that the ink bonds well to the substate and is highly abrasion resistent.

Once the ink hits the substrate the pigment particles flow and  merge slightly to form a film some 500 nanometres thick, the thinnest of any print process according to Mr Landa. This means the print areas match the gloss level of the substrate exactly. The halftone dot edges are extremely sharp too, Mr Landa said, producing enlarged views of offset and ‘conventional’ inkjets as comparisons.

The small ink pigment particles are strong absorbers of light too, according to Mr Landa. In consequence, the colour gamut is very wide, again superior to offset, he said.

Mr Landa remained vague about the print heads, but hinted that they are a modified system from a third party developer. Other suppliers have indicated that they are Kyocera KJ4 piezo heads. Mr Landa calls the heads ‘ejectors,’ rather than inkjet heads. He said that in future both piezo and thermal head systems could be adapted to run NanoInk.

At drupa there are several presses being shown on the company’s large stand in Hall 9. There is also a large theatre area containing one web and one sheet fed press, where Mr Landa is making several presentations every day. This echoes his time at Indigo, when theatre presentations marked most major trade shows following the original launch at Ipex 1993.

Contact: www.landanano.com

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