The world’s largest printing exhibition runs from 3 to 16 May at the Düsseldorf Messe fairground in Germany, drupa 2012. The event will have more than 1800 exhibitors covering all aspects of the printing industry, from software through presses to finishing, including paper.
A lot of drupa is related to digital printing, as demonstrated in our major preview here. This combines two previews originally published separately in Digital Printer’s April and May 2012 issues, which covered announcements as soon as we heard of them. Here they are revised, updated as of the start of the show, and presented in alphabetical order.
Organisers and journalists often try to give a one-word description for the theme of a particular drupa, though this is oversimplification. The 2008 event was called the ‘inkjet drupa,’ but with a lot more inkjets already in evidence for 2012, as well as a lot of toner and other devices, what should we call this one? The ‘integration’ or ‘interconnectivity’ drupa are rather lame alternative suggestions. We’d prefer the ‘digital domination drupa,’ though admittedly there’s still a lot of analogue kit around.
Despite all the talk of ‘inkjet drupa,’ it seems that the process won’t necessarily have things all its own way. There are at least three completely new digital processes being unveiled at the show that aren’t inkjet or dry toner.
Memories of Benny Landa’s success with Indigo after 1993 have meant his current company Landa Corporation’s Nanographic process has received a lot of attention, even though details of how it works remain sketchy.
But there is also Xeikon, which is previewing Quantum Technology – its details are even vaguer than Landa’s, but there has been speculation that this is a liquid toner process. Miyakoshi and Ryobi are teaming up to preview a fast sheetfed B2 digital press that definitely does use liquid toner and an electrostatic drum, in what seems to be an update of the process used for early wide format plan and sign printers.
Will they prove to be the future or a flash in the pan? Who knows, but they’ll certainly concentrate some minds in the inkjet worlds.
Meanwhile, other manufacturers at drupa are queuing up to announce B2 format sheetfed digital presses. Some are established all-digital companies, like Delphax, MGI and Xanté; others are well-known offset manufacturers, including KBA, Komori and Ryobi.
Assuming B2 presses start to sell in significant numbers, this will encourage the finishing manufacturers to come up with compatible systems. While some existing B2 existing finishing equipment could be used, most of this was designed for longish run lengths of identical printed copies without fast changeovers.
Just as the early SRA3/B3 format digital presses galvanised a lot of development among finishing manufacturers to create small finishers with computer controls and servo motors that can change formats in a flash, we’re now likely to see a flurry of announcements of similarly flexible B2 finishers.
Interestingly there’s little evidence so far of it being a Chinese digital drupa. China is happily churning out heavy metal, but its contribution to digital print is still mainly at a component and assembly level for foreign customers.
Should you go?
The organisers are predicting some 375,000 visitors from all over the world, which is down on the 390,000 who actually visited the last event in 2008.
This seems to be more an effect of the never-ending economic downturn, rather than printing being replaced by Twittering or iPads or whatever.
Fortunately for potential British visitors, drupa projects itself as an international show and adopts English as its, ah, lingua franca. If you don’t speak German don’t worry: practically every stand will have English speakers, and often English language signage and brochures. A high proportion of visitors, some 68%, are expected to come in from countries other than Germany.
As with the UK’s four-yearly Ipex print show, drupa is a valuable place to see the latest kit in action and also to put it into context with its competitors. You don’t get that sort of experience on YouTube. If you’ve got the time to wander around, it’s also a great place for serendipity: discovering thing or ideas you’ve never heard of before, which might inspire new ideas for your own business.
Although trade titles like Digital Printer try to highlight the main items in previews like this, invariably there will be things that we’ve never heard of either, so these form part of the buzz of going to the actual show.
On the other hand, you need time for that sort of thing. If you’ve never been to a drupa, it’s hard to imagine how big it is, or how long it takes to walk around. There are 19 halls this time, mostly vast spaces, and simply getting from one to the other takes a lot of walking. There are little shuttle buses and a handful of elevated powered walkways, but to see every hall, even without scheduling in sales demos, would take several days.
A lot of UK visitors don’t do this, which may be a missed opportunity. Often they’ll be flown in by a supplier, shown pre-arranged demos on a few stands and flown out again. That’s fine, but it does miss the discovery factor.
Around the stands
AB Graphics Hall 2 B36 & B32
The UK based label converting and finishing manufacturer will show its Digicon Sabre Xtreme laser die cutter with UV flexo and over-laminating modules, plus a Digicon series 2 converting line equipped to run both labels and folding cartons with an HP Indigo WS6600 Digital press both in and off-line.
It’s also joining up with cutting and creasing equipment manufacturer KAMA (now distributed in the UK by Friedheim International). Here it will show the Digicon folding carton solution with flatbed die cutting and creasing. It will be working with cartons printed on an HP Indigo digital press.
Agfa Graphics Hall 8a B64
Inkjet forms the core of the company’s digital activities at the show, though there’s no mention of the venerable dotrix UV web press.
Instead the company is showing its big M-Press Leopard for the first time at European trade fair. This a big high capacity large format UV inkjet industrial press that can optionally run inline with Thieme screen presses. Intended as a no-makeready alternative to high volume screen presses, the latest Leopard version can take media up to 5 cm thick in any size up to 1.6 x 3.3 metres. Agfa says this takes it into the realms of decoration and furniture, packaging and home wares.
The company’s other wide format UV inkjets are aimed more at sign and display markets. It will demonstrate the Anapurna series and two new Jeti 3020 Titan UV 2 x 3 metre printers. One of the two Jeti 3020 Titans will have a 36-head configuration, printing CMYK printing with pre-, post- and spot white. The large 2 x 3 metre mounting bed supports rigid or flexible media, with multiple objects on the bed.
The second Titan is a new 48-head configuration, using eight heads for each color (CMYKLcLm).
Agfa will also show a new Cloud based web to print system, Apogee StoreFront. It’s said to make it easy to set up online stores or ‘storefronts’ for print or non-print products.
Atlantic Zeiser Hall 11 C56
The German digital print systems developer will have its own stand in Hall 11 showing mainly overprinting and card solutions. It will also be on the KBA stand (Hall 16 C47) under the slogan ‘digital meets offset,’ where it says it will present a ‘modern hybrid sheet printing and coding system. This will be a Rapida 105 press with integrated AZ Delta inkjet printer.
The company’s own stand will show its Digiline Web 300 with the integrated inkjet printers Delta 105i and Omega 36i for production of security seal and tax labels; plus a Digiline Sheet 300 with integrated Omega 36i inkjet in combination with Smartcure Air, an environmentally friendly, air cooled UV LED curing system, for individual coding and serialising of folded cartons; and Persoline, with plasmapre-treatment, a four colour Gamma inkjet plus a UV varnishing module for high quality full colour printing and personalisation of plastic cards.
Autobond Hall 11 A23
The UK heavy duty lamination machinery specialist will show a 52 new standalone spot UV varnisher, based on the 36 cm inline model it introduced last year. It is also developing a 74 cm version for inline and standalone use. See page 38 for more details.
Bordeaux Digital PrintInk Hall 3 B50
This is an independent inkjet ink and fluids developer whose products are used by OEMs. At the show it will have its latest UV LED inks with improved properties, suited to a wider range of printers. It will also have its water based laminates for the wide format market and UV based laminates for more diverse applications such as document finishing and pre-press applications. It’s also promising new product revelations at the show.
Canon Hall 8a C06-1
The company is incorporating Océ into its largest drupa stand to date, although the stand branding will be all-Canon. Is this a sign of things to come when Océ will become just another Canon product line? No, says Canon Europe’s Professional Print director David Preskett, just an emphasis that the two companies are now integrating their systems.
At 3750 m2, this will be the fourth largest stand of the whole show. So far there have been no announcements of new Canon kit, though Océ itself has already said quite a bit (see the separate entry).
The stand will feature four different zones: for external print service providers, for internal print departments, one that showcases Canon’s added value services such as the Essential Business Builder Programme and one focused on growth areas such as cross media and photo print. There will be more than 100 customer ‘success stories’ and print applications highlighted.
The Essential Business Builder Programme, which helps printers to extend their businesses and market their services, will be extended with new modules.
The show will also mark the publication of Canon’s latest market research Insight Report, covering print customers’ attitudes and understanding of what digital print can do.
CGS Hall 8b A66
The workflow and colour management developer has just become a distributor for FFEI software. At the show the two companies will collaborate on solutions for the packaging industry, particularly FFEI’s RealVue 3D Packager for high-end design and 3D visualisation with CGS ORIS colour-management, to create packaging prototypes for output on the latest Roland printer/cutter devices.
FFEI also offers the RealPro Workflow System for digital and conventional presses. This is APPE based. It’s related to Fujifilm’s XMF workflow, which FFEI writes.
CGS will demonstrate ORIS Press Matcher // Web, developed to produce accurate, consistent colour on any digital printing device.
Chili Publish Hall 7a C15
Although only launched in late 2010, the company will introduce Chili Publisher 3.0, the third generation of its online document editor on its stand. New highlights include 3D folding for realistic on-screen proofs; and support for tables in layouts. A second generation HTML 5 reader for mobile devices can be offered to partners, for own-branding.
Tharstern uses Chili Publisher in its e4print Pro web to print system, linking to its MIS.
Color-Logic various
The company will be on several partner stands but hasn’t yet announced which yet. It develops the Process Metallic System, originally for offset print but now suited to some types of digital. This has been expanded to include Dimensional-FX, Watermark-FX, Image-FX, Security-FX, with a range of 250 metallic colours. At drupa it will introduce Security-FX, which can use either silver ink or metallic substrates for security effects.
D&K Hall 11 D40
D&K Europe, the UK arm of the US D&K Group, will demonstrate its B2 format Europa, Jupiter DS ((one-side/two-side laminator) and Proteus laminators. These are fully automated thermal laminating machines aimed at printers and print finishers. The Jupiter DS will be fitted with a D&K stacker.
The company says it will demonstrate the productivity and financial benefits for printers who bring lamination inhouse.
Delphax Technologies Hall 8b C10
The US high speed digital printer maker will introduce elan, a new sheet fed digital colour press based on fast Memjet inkjet print heads. Although not confirmed, it appears that this will be a B2 format. It’s predicting 500 impressions per minute, or 30,000 per hour, which would be amazing if this means whole B2 sheets. Unfortunately Delphax refuses to tell us whether its definition of an impression means a whole sheet or just an A4 page area.
‘We are introducing a game-changing print system at drupa,’ said Dieter Schilling, president and chief executive officer of Delphax. ‘Elan represents an entirely new category of digital print technology. We have developed a revolutionary sheet-fed transport technology and integrated this with multiple Memjet printheads to provide a unique high-resolution, high-quality and high-speed inkjet printing system. There is nothing approaching this performance in the market today.’
DGR Hall 6 A39
The DGR KM40 Binder will be running in line with digital web printing, sheeting, folding, and transfer systems to demonstrate ‘web to book’ production. The binder is equipped with inline end papering, PUR gluing, back
lining and a cover feeder, inline to a DGR automatic three knife trimmer.
DirectSmile Hall 7 E17
The German variable data imaging software specialist will exhibit its Cross Media system in the drupa innovation parc (dpi). This allows the production of personalised, automated marketing campaigns across print, online and mobile media, with personalised print, e-mails and websites (PURLs) that can be linked into an integrated campaign. No programming skills or special expertise are needed to set up e-mail campaigns and websites.
Domino Printing Sciences Hall 13 D89
The UK digital print systems developer is concentrating on three main products at the show. The single-colour K600i inkjet print bar is designed to mount on existing web presses and finishing lines. It provides 600 dpi with UV cured ink at speeds from 50 to 75 metres per minute. The bar mount allows positioning anywhere over a web, offering a print width of 108 mm. Multiple heads can be mounted to the bar to give seamless printing up to 557 mm wide.
The ‘i’ part of the name refers to i-Tech, the ‘intelligent technology’ features which cover flexible integration, minimal operator intervention and greater productivity. The i-Tech StitchLink technology positions the heads for seamless imaging.
N600i is a complete four colour narrow web inkjet press, primarily for label printing. This was first announced at Ipex 2010 and now gains the i-Tech intelligent technology package. It offers 600 dpi with four greyscale levels per colour, and runs at up to 75 metres per minute on web widths up to 340 mm.
Duplo Hall 13 B53
The finishing specialist has taken a 50% larger stand than at drupa 2008. It will be divided into sections for bindery, saddle stitching and digital finishing.
Products on show will include the latest DBMi Saddle System, announced a couple of months ago. This is for book production from digital or offset presses, for blocks up to 120 pages. Completely automatic setup of all parameters allows fast make-readies of about 60 seconds. The stitcher is being launched with new DSC-10/60i suction collating towers.
Another relative newcomer is the DC-745 Production Colour Finisher with Integrated Folding System, a compact modular
finisher for high volume digital colour work. It handles cutting, creasing and perforating in one pass, with optional slit scoring for greetings cards. New enhancements include strike perforation (for stop/start perforating for tear-out coupons and tickets), embossing and die cutting. The Integrated Folding System permits complete single pass production of folded leaflets, greetings cards and mailing pieces.
Also shown will be the Digital System 5000 Pro high performance booklet maker, which takes sequentially printed sheets from a digital press, with pallet loading compatibility with HP Indigo and Xerox iGen presses; and the Ultra 200A heavy duty UV varnisher.
The bindery section includes the new FKS PrintBind KB-4000PUR, a single clamp binder that applies PUR adhesive to spines and hotmelt to side glue the covers; and the DPB-500PUR binder for both digital and offset perfect bound books.
Durst Hall 6 C60
Tau 330 is a new UV cured inkjet label press. The standard version will have a print width of 330 mm and runs at 48 metres per minute, but there will be an ‘economy’ model, the 330/20, for widths up to 200 mm. It offers CMYK as standard with options for white. Two extra process colours (orange and violet) will be offered by the end of 2012. Xaar 1001 heads give 720 x 360 dpi with greyscale for a claimed resolution of more than 1000 dpi.
A variable data print option will be demonstrated with the Tau 330, which includes an ‘insetter’ ability to overprint onto pre-die cut and/or pre-printed labels, to allow late stage versioning at high speed.
Durst also stresses that its UV Cured inks are highly durable, making them suitable for UL/cUL labelling of consumer electronic equipment whose labels need to endure hard treatment for years.
EFI Hall 5 C01
The wide ranging company will show products from MIS and Rips through to inkjets.
One of the stars will be a prototype high speed wide format inkjet codenamed Orion. ‘Say goodbye to screen printing,’ says EFI’s CEO Guy Gecht. It has a new imaging technology and uses UV cured inks and LED curing lamps. ‘Dramatic’ high speed is claimed, with wide gamut and good gloss control on a substrates from thick to thin. The format hasn’t been announced yet.
On the front end side, EFI will launch the HyperRIP, which it says is up to 40% faster than its previous top models. This will be able to output PPML 3.0 variable data in full colour with transparency at the full print engine speeds.
All Fiery servers, used by OEM suppliers, will gain a new cloud based dashboard for remote monitoring.
A new cloud based version of the PACE MIS will be shown at the show, together with an update of the established PrintSmith entry level MIS (EFI claims this had the highest market share in Europe last year).
New for the show and ready to ship is the EFI R3225 (a descendent of the Rastek range, whose name has now been dropped). This is a 3.2 metre UV printer, pitched as an affordable upgrade to solvent printers and an alternative to HP’s Latex printers.
The latest Jetrion 4900 complete label printing and finishing line will also be demonstrated. (DP October 2011).
Enfocus Hall 8b A23
The Esko subsidiary will show the latest releases of the Switch configurable workflow automation software, plus the PitStop Professional and PitStop Server preflighters.
Switch 11 is now completely revised as a single package with modular options, rather than three separate packages as before.
The latest PitStop Professional 11 and Server 11 feature PitStop 11’s ‘Smart Preflight & Correction’ for real-time interactions of user or job-fed Preflight Profile settings. Metadata embedded inside the jobs can be used by PitStop Server 11 to further automate the processes.
Crossroads, the community for Switch users and developers, will feature at the show on the stands of Enfocus and its developer partners. A dedicated Crossroads web portal has been set up at www.crossroads-world.com.
Epson Hall 5 A01
Will show a prototype of a new single-pass digital label press at drupa, together with a self-contained inkjet ‘dry lab’ for photo printing. It is also introducing a new ‘Engineered for Print’ strategy, that will affect its future product development. See pages 20 – 21 for full details. There will also be the familiar Stylus Pro high quality inkjet range in widths from 18 to 64 inches with UltraChrome water based inks.
Enfocus Hall 8b A23
Sharing a stand with its parent Esko, Enfocus will show a major change to its Switch automation software as well as updated PitStop Pro and Server preflight software. Instead of being three distinct packages, it is built around a basic Core Engine with eight optional modules. These can be used to build custom workflows with a mixture of internal functions and links to third party software.
The PitStop family of PDF preflighting tools will be upgraded to version 11. New features include Smart Preflight & Correction, that allows real-time interactions of user or job-fed Preflight Profile settings. PitStop Server 11 can now be automated via JDF or XML metadata.
Esko Hall 8b A23
This will be the company’s largest drupa stand so far, although a lot of it will be given over to its flexo platesetters, which aren’t relevant to digital print. It is introducing Suite 12, the latest version of its end to end design and production software, which is largely for packaging and labels but can also take in commercial and wide format print work. This has more integration, more automation and extended 3D design and previewing features.
At the other end of the process, there will be a new digital finishing table in the extensive Kongsberg range. The new XN is a mid-range model with four table sizes from 1680 x 1270 mm to 2210 x 6550 mm. It can optionally be fitted with a more powerful milling spindle, called Multicut-HP.
FFEI Hall 5 C18
At drupa the UK based developer FFEI will introduce an end-to-end digital label solution, based around the Caslon inkjet press that it developed jointly with Nilpeter. This gains a new fifth print head for spot colours, in this case printing white, plus FFEI’s latest RealPro Workflow software. The company is also announcing a new VIP Partner Programme, designed to extend the global availability of the company’s products.
Four Pees Hall 7a D13
The Belgian software developer and distributor will have a bunch of different company’s products on its stand. From axaio software it will show the MadeToTag InDesign plugin, currently in public beta, which prepares documents for tagged PDF. Axaio’s other InDesign and Illustrator plugins will also be there.
A new launch will be Atomyx Portal, an ‘out of the box’ solution for job submission and quality control.
Four Pees is the distributor for callas software’s line of PDF tools and will show pdfToolbox for preflight and corrections, plus pdfaPilot 3 for archiving with PDF/A files.
PrintFactory is a workflow system for large format printing (see page 12), accompanied by PrintFactory Go, a set of job preparation and last minute correction tools. ProofMaster and ProofMaster Plus are proofing software for on-screen and print use.
Friedheim various
Many of the UK finishing systems distributor’s partners have stands at the show, including: Tecnograf (Hall 13 B90), Baumann-Wohlenberg (Hall 06 A59), Blumer (Hall 06 A61), Palamides (Hall 06 A39), Komfi (Hall 13 B72), Bograma / Sigma Engineering (Hall 06 A24), Constantin Hang (Hall 13 C37), Beck Packautomaten (Hall 12 A69), Tecnau (Hall 06, Stand C74), Hunkeler (Hall 09 C39) and Hunkeler Systeme (Hall 14 A46).
Fujifilm Hall 8b A25
This will be the company’s largest ever drupa stand. Big news on the digital side is the showing of a prototype B2 format inkjet press for folding cartons. This is likely to reach the market next year, the company predicts.
The carton machine is based on the Jet Press 720 commercial B2 inkjet press, which is now ready for sales. We looked at the demonstrator in Belgium in Digital Printer last month.
The company is announcing Vividia, a range of inkjet inks. Vividia WP Q is the water based ink for the Jet Press 720 and WV Q is UV cured ink for the new packaging machine. Vividia WP S and WD S are pigment and dye inks for a high speed web press – so far Fujifilm hasn’t announced what press it’s talking about.
Also new is XMF V5, the latest version of its workflow and production management suite for digital and offset workflows, and XMF Remote V9, an update to its job submission portal. Brand new is a cloud-based colour management system called XMF ColorPath, designed to help manage colour consistency across multiple print processes.
Fujifilm Dimatix, the inkjet print head developer, will be present on the stand. Its Samba heads are used in the Jet Press and new carton press.
It will also be showing materials deposition systems for applications such as printed electronics. New on the stand will be SG-1024/M, a new printhead for industrial single-pass printing, which uses new jetting technology called RediJet.
Global Graphics Hall 7 A21
The British RIP developer will concentrate on its new Harlequin Host Renderer 3, a high performance RIP technology intended for OEM integration by digital press suppliers. It includes features to process fully variable colour data at full press speeds. See page 22 for more details.
Heidelberg Hall 1
The press giant is marking its commitment to digital print by introducing the Linoprint name for all its activities in this area. The Linoprint C range, for commercial print, covers the Ricoh sheet fed toner presses that it resells. Linoprint L is for labels, so far covering a new version of the narrow web UV inkjet print system developed by CSAT, which Heidelberg bought last year.
Digital print systems will form a respectable part of the company’s drupa exhibits, which as usual occupy the whole of the big Hall 1.
Highcon Systems Hall 4 B28
This Israeli startup company has developed Euclid, which it says is the world’s first digital cutting and creasing machine for ‘direct to pack’ production. There’s no need for physical cutting and creasing die forms. Unlike knife based digital finishing tables which are only suited to a handful of mockups, this one uses three CO2 cutting lasers for faster operations.
It creates DART (Digital Adhesive Rule Technology) disposable polymer creasing dies for each job, which are positioned on a creasing cylinder. Creation of DARTs for a new job takes about 15 minutes. Sheets up to 760 X 1060 mm and 550 g/m2 can be handled. The company has recently announced a cooperation agreement with Esko to integrate ArtiosCAD design and production software to drive the machine.
Horizon Hall 13 D35/D36
The Japanese finishing is showing 28 systems and solutions, including three new folders for B1 and B2 formats and a new creaser folder.
Also shown will be a high speed sheet/set feeder, an offline digital booklet production system a commercial booklet production system and an automated three knife trimmer. Intelligent Finishing Solutions, the UK distributor, will be represented on the stand.
There will be live presentations on ‘Digital Finishing Solutions,’ focused on roll to perfect binding and roll to saddle stitching. These will showcase the ‘Smart Book Solution’ combining workflow from digitally printed roll to perfect binding for short run publishing and the ‘Roll to Booklet solution,’ combining workflow from digitally printed roll to saddle stitching focused on personalised variable sheet count booklet production. There will also be a ‘Flexible Binding Solution’ presentation for both digital and offset print.
The AF-566F Digital + PSX-56/ BQ-470 Smart Book Solution is a roll-to-perfect binding system with a small minimum footprint that’s suited to on-demand book production.
Horizon systems will also be operating on several press manufacturers’ stands. These include Xerox (Hall 8b D04) and Komori (Hall 15 D04), both with a StitchLiner 6000 automated book production system, Océ (Hall 9 A40), with a BQ270 single clamp perfect binder, HT30 and StitchLiner 6000, and Screen, with an AFC566 roll to fold system.
HP Hall 4
The company’s stand will be the second largest at drupa (Heidelberg being the largest as ever), covering 4952 m2. Playing starring roles will be the new 74 cm wide large format HP Indigo liquid ink digital presses covered in more detail here, plus the tweaks to the existing SRA3 lineup.
Three improved versions of the T-series inkjet web presses are also being announced, though at the time of going to press it isn’t certain which if any will be demonstrated
The company will also show its large format range, including latex ink and UV-cured models for sign and display applications, plus ‘specialty’ inkjet solutions for low cost imprinting, coding and marking.
Also featured will be end to end solutions including new SmartStream workflows; Exstream communications management technologies; web to print and MIS solutions based on Hiflex technology; advanced service and support offerings; and third-party software and finishing systems from HP partners.
Hunkeler Hall 9 C39
The Swiss company has specialised in inline finishing for digital web presses lately. At the show it will have some 85 modules incorporated into 20 finishing lines in 14 different locations. These include the stands of HP, Impika, Kodak, Mondi, Pitney Bowes, Ricoh, Screen, Xeikon and Xerox.
On its own stand it will show: an offline book block solution (PF7/SD7-II) running at 200 metres per minute, ‘highly dynamic’ punching and perforating for transpromo; LS7, a roll to large format sheet stacker; PC7, a primer coater which pre-coats or post-coats offset rolls for use with inkjet presses, a newspaper solution (for different broadsheets); a laser punching technology study (a security application), Hunkeler Control Solution , a modular solution for planning, control and monitoring of production processes., POI Hunkeler Control Platform (Web vision & tracking), POI web finishing, POI book production, POI JDF/JMF.
Hybrid Software Hall 7a E10
This US based company is relatively new to Europe but set up a development and sales office in Kortrijk, Belgium, last year and made its first European sales. It develops what it calls Order Lifecycle Management systems, which links and integrates existing production and admin hardware and software more easily than is possible via JDF, it says.
Its main product is FaceLift, which it says allows seamless integration between production workflows, MIS/ERP systems, third-party websites, external databases and other sources of digitally held information. There are also modules for web to print and multiple site connection.
The Belgian office is mainly run by former Artwork Systems people, led by its former UK managing director Jan Ruysschaert, so they have a lot of experience in workflow and integration.
Impika Hall 5 C24
The French inkjet maker will show several new inkjet presses including some prototypes
New on its stand will be the iPrint eVolution platform, a modular inkjet web press that can be configured for monochrome up to four colour, with one or two print towers that can be plugged together inline or in L or U shapes. Speeds are from 40 to 125 metres per minute with resolutions from 1200 to 360 dpi respectively.
Also new is iPrint Compact, which handles two-up duplex in a single print tower and runs a 474 mm web width. This primarily intended for transactional and transpromo work, and the company says its footprint (under 10 m2) and comparatively light weight (under 3.5 tonnes) makes it suitable for installation in data centres with raised floors. It’s also said to be suited to producing books, newspapers, brochures or manuals.
The standard speed is 75 metres per minute at 600 x 600 dpi in full colour. This can be increased to 127 metres per minute at 360 x 600 dpi, or reduced to 40 metres at 1200 x 600 dpi.
It will also show Genesis, which it describes as a ‘proof of concept’ solution that is intermediate between colour production copiers and high volume industrial printers. It uses inkjet technology with a web to sheet solution, to print high quality (over 1000 dpi) monochrome and colour A4 pages.
Also shown will be a new version of the iEngine 1000 imprinting head with a doubled up print width, called iEngine 1000L. It prints on a width of 220 mm at speeds up to 150 metres per minute in colour and up to 800 metres in monochrome. It is compatible with different types of inks: water based, UV and MICR. Also new on its stand will be the iPrint eVolution platform, a modular inkjet web press that can be configured for monochrome or up to four colours, with one or two print towers. Speeds are from 40 to 125 metres per minute with resolutions from 1200 to 360 dpi respectively.
Despite a large stand at Ipex 2010Impika still has no sales presence in the UK. It says it is announcing a new pan-European distributor at the show.
INX International Hall 3 A50
Apart from various inks, coatings and colour management solutions from the INX range, there will be a new NW140 digital narrow web press with UV LED-cure single pass output, plus the CP100 cylindrical digital can printer, and the MD series flatbed packaging printers.
A the show it will emphasise its Prodigy brand of customised industrial inkjet inks for emerging markets such as textile, tile, glass, metal and wood grain.
Visitors will be offered a booklet called ‘Practice Guide to Food Packaging,’ which covers the issues of non-food contact surface of food packaging materials, especially with regard to low migration UV inks.
Kama Hall 2 B32
Will show the new AutoRegister for the ProCut 53. This is intended for digital print finishing and is said to have very precise registration for die-cutting and finishing.
In its ‘Short-Run Packaging Centre’ the company will introduce its ProFold 74 folder gluer with a pre-breaking unit, cold gluing system and a long pressing belt. This features a new creasing, cutting and perforating module.
Also new is ProCut 76, said to be the world’s first 760 x 600 mm die cutter with hot foil stamping.
KBA Hall 16 C47
More details have emerged of the forthcoming inkjet web press since last month. It will be called RotaJET 76 and will be built in the company’s Würzburg factory. It is a result of the company’s partnership with RR Donnelley and is similar to the latter’s ProteusJet but with piezo Kyocera heads.
A Rapida 105 offset press will be demonstrated with two Atlantic Zeiser inkjet heads for personalisation.
KIP Hall 5 C37
The large format plan printer specialist will be showing its latest graphics model, the colour toner based KIP C8700. This can print 288 A0 sheets per hour, 516 A1s, or 692 A2s. Costs per copy are about £1.28 for a colour A0 sheet with full image coverage or about 58p for 30% coverage, while there’s a lower click rate for black-only printing.
Kodak Hall 5 F09-1
When it entered Chapter 11 in January Kodak said that digital is its future and it is trying to prove this at Drupa. It says it is announcing 10 new digital solutions (though some are for offset and flexo applications) and will have 30 industry partners on its stand.
Highlights include a new Prosper 6000XL four-colour inkjet web press for higher speeds than the original 5000XL (up from 200 to 300 metres per minute); a faster Prosper S30 imprinting system (for up to 900 metres per minute); the use of Kodak Stream inkjet technology in the Timsons T-Press book printing line (on the Kolbus stand); and for the fifth units of toner NexPresses there are new gold,
pearlescent and neon pink effects; and new or updated workflow systems including Prinergy 6, Intelligent Prepress Manager 2.0, InSite portal, and iPad App, Colorflow colour management and Preps imposition.
The stand will include ‘application stations’ for commercial print, publishing and packaging, where visitors can learn more about how they can grow their businesses with Kodak Solutions. The K-Zone theatre area will feature live presentations by partners, industry experts, product representatives and customers throughout each day.
Komfi Hall 13 B72
The company will demonstrate the longevity of its laminators by running on the stand its very first Delta 001 machine from 1998. It will also demonstrate examples from its current range of thermal laminating machines including an Amiga 36A Delta Plus Amiga 52 and the ‘new’ Junior 36 as well as spot varnishing units Fullmatic B3 and Spotmatic B1.
Kolbus Hall 16 D22
A complete digital book printing and finishing line will be displayed, combining the T-Print large format inkjet book press and T-Fold folder from Timsons, inline with a digital-oriented binding line from Kolbus. See news page 8 for more details.
Komori Hall 15 D04-1/2
The Japanese web and sheetfed offset manufacturer is moving into digital via a partnership with Konica Minolta. On the stand will be two big inkjet prototypes, a 762 mm wide inkjet web press for speeds up to 150 metres per minute, and a 736 mm wide sheetfed offset press that runs at 3300 sheets per hour. These use a new Konica Minolta print head, with paper transports built by Konica itself.
Production versions are at least a year away, but more immediately the company will resell the Konica Minolta bizhub Pro C8000 sheetfed toner press, integrated into Komori’s colour management system so that it can precisely match offset results. This will also be at drupa.
Konica Minolta Hall 8B B78
Hasn’t said much in advance, though apparently it’s very busy. It says it will show its complete production printing range on the stand. Also see the new partnership with Komori in the previous entry.
Landa Corporation Hall 9 A73
A little more information has been let out since last month. The company is introducing what it claims is an entirely new digital process called Nanography, with very fine particle inks.
It is planning six presses in roll and sheet fed forms, for commercial, packaging and publishing applications.
These will print on standard paper at high speed, with high quality and very dense colours, the company claims. See news page 3 for more details.
Founder Benny Landa will host five daily theatre presentations on every day of the show, in a 300 seat auditorium on the company’s 1400 m2 stand.
MB Matthias Bäuerle Hall 13 D49
The German folding and inserting machine maker will introduce a creasing and folding line specifically intended for digital print.
This comprises a flat pile feeder, alignment table, Pit Stop DH Speed creasing and perforating machine and prestigeFold Net 52 automatic folder.
Also at drupa the prestigeFold Net 38 model will have a special fold unit for pharmaceutical package inserts. A new Net 66 is a development of the 52 model, able to handle more formats such as 3-up A4 or 24 page A4 signatures.
A new laser aligned tool shaft positioned aids setup of all models.
The new autoSET B4 HighFLEX inserter handles all formats from DL to B4, and at a maximum speed of more than 22,000 cycles per hour. Suction, friction or rotary feeders are available as well as cameras for code reading.
A so far unnamed news system for producing personalised letters and envelopes in a single pass, inline with a digital printer, will also be introduced.
MGI Technologies Hall 4 B24
The French digital press maker is showing a new sheet fed B2 format UV-cured inkjet press called Alphajet, and a new version of its B2 spot UV inkjet coater, called JetVarnish 3D.
Alphajet is a duplex machine and will print variable data with six colours plus spot UV varnish at speeds up to 3000 sheets per hour. It will take paper and board up to 500 g/m2 and is intended for commercial and packaging work. It’s due to ship in 2013.
JetVarnish 3D apparently uses the same technology, as it has the same speed as Alphajet, which is three times as fast as the original JetVarnish machine. It will be able to handle variable data spot coating or overall flood coating. Also new is the ability to build up a 3D raised image to give an embossed effect.
Mimaki Hall 9 C21
The Japanese digital printing and finishing specialist is showing its newly announced Latex ink based JV400LX inkjet in 1.3 and 1.6 metre widths. This includes a white ink in the set.
Also new is the compact UJF-3042HG A3 format UV flatbed inkjet printer, a development of the original UJF-3042 but with the ability to print on objects up to 15 cm high. See the Sign & Digital UK review, page 42, for more detail.
Mitsubishi Paper Hall 9 C22
The company is presenting coated inkjet papers for ‘white paper solutions,’ ie colour transactional and transpromo, direct mail, brochures or book printing. It also has matte and glossy coated inkjet papers designed for the self adhesive label sector.
It will also show its Giroform Digital carbonless paper that is compatible with digital presses such as HP Indigos and Kodak NexPresses.
Miyakoshi Hall 9 A04
The Japanese web press manufacturer is teaming up with Ryobi to launch a fast sheetfed B2 digital press. This uses liquid electrophotographic toner and can run at up to 8000 sheets per hour – more than twice the speed of any B2 sheetfed inkjet presses so far. See news page 3 for more details.
The company says it will also show web fed digital presses, but hasn’t said which. It has several drop-on-demand inkjets, some of which form the basis of Océ’s JetStreams. It also has two liquid toner webs: the 150 metres per minute MDPress 5000 and the 75 mpm MD-Press 1260.
Müller Martini Hall 14 C21
Digital finishing will play a big part in the company’s displays this year, especially tailored to the higher speeds of digital presses used for books, magazines and catalogues. All MM systems now communicate with each other via its Connex network, which can link to an MIS.
It will show a completely new inserting system for newspapers and magazines; a ‘state of the art’ system for hard cover jobs such as photo books; new methods for saddle stitching with inline inserts; and new perfect binding systems with motion control technology.
The company’s digital solutions will also be on the stands of HP (Hall 4 D60) for book production inline with an inkjet web press; and KBA (Hall 16 C47) for magazine and brochure folding inline with the new RotaJET inkjet web press, with downstream saddle stitching.
Océ Hall 8a B08
Will be on the stand of its parent Canon. Pre-drupa announcements made so far include the ColorStream 3700 inkjet web press, a 43% faster version of last year’s 3500 model that has proved a strong seller. This fits below the
company’s faster but pricier JetStream inkjets. New monochrome JetStreams for the book market were announced in December.
Also recently announced were new PlotWave and ColorWave wide format inkjet plan and poster printers. However, so far the company hasn’t said what it will actually show on the stand.
ODM Hall 15 A11-2
On Demand Meachinery (ODM), a US manufacturer of short run hard cover book binding systems, is showcasing the new Super Sticker and Smasher and the all new Super Sewer XXL. The sewing machine can side sew books up to 25 mm thick, with pre-drilling of holes for the thread.
The ODM standard Sticker and Smasher will also be exhibited, including the case making line. ODM is distributed in the UK by Perfect Bindery Solutions.
Optimus Hall 4 D04
The UK developer will show its recently introduced Optimus Cloud web to print system, which integrates with its Optimus 2020 and dash MIS lines. New at the show will be two sales tools for dash users: Sales Manager, which analyses data captured by the MIS for sales successes (or failures); and Campaign Manager, which allows the creation of email and other marketing campaigns based on the results from Sales Manager. Also being introduced is Cloud Mobile, which allows sales staff on the road to access the MIS remotely via iPads.
A new logo will be introduced to mark the company’s 30th birthday.
Pageflex Hall 4 A02
Represented in the UK by ROI360, which will also be on the stand, Pageflex will show its forthcoming versions of its established Storefront software plus the more recently acquired iWay web to print system. Both will have significant enhancements and new global trading features, the company says. There will also be demonstrations of the company’s existing mobile to print solutions and digital media partnerships.
Palamides Hall 6 A39
Sharing a stand with the MBO group the company will show two new systems for the envelope/mailing sector. The first is a post box filing system for envelopes or self-mailers that have been pre-sorted. The second newcomer is a cross-strapped envelope delivery for personalised products, claimed to be a world first. It creates cross-strapped and labelled bundles, split according to postal or customer criteria.
Also demonstrated will be several of the company’s alpha and delta deliveries taking output from MBO folders, plus a delta502 delivery handling an A4 48-page document that will be produced on a Hohner saddle stitcher.
Pantone Hall 7a D12
Will be emphasising its newly announced PantoneLive Cloud based database, that contains details of spot colours when printed by different processes on a wide range of substrates.
It has also just announced 336 new colours for its Pantone Plus colour series.
Pitney Bowes Hall 4 C04
The White Paper Factory is a major theme. This is the company’s description for all-digital colour printing of transactional work from blank webs through to mail pieces inserted in printed envelopes, as opposed to using pre-printed offset shells. An IntelliJet 20 inkjet web press (Pitney Bowes’ name for the HP T200) will be running on the stand, alongside the company’s more familiar inserting, sorting and mail finishing lines.
Demonstrations will centre on a limited-colour electricity bill showing how shells can initially be replaced, plus full colour transpromo on a mobile phone bill. Production will be mixed to show printing in mail sort order.
It will also show a new Mailstream Wrapper, which wraps personalised colour sheets around bills instead of inserting them into envelopes.
Moving away from print, the company will demonstrate Volly, a secure delivery system for bills, statements, direct mail and so on. This is called a digital mailbox and is presented as a secure alternative to email that presents important communications through a single point of delivery and access.
Polytype Hall 16 A03
The Swiss wide format printer maker will show the new Virtu Quantum UV cure inkjet, which it claims offers a combination of speed and quality that wasn’t attainable before. It can hit 300 m2 per hour in production mode and 150 to 180 m2 in photographic mode. It’s available in 2.5 and 3.5 metre widths, using new high definition 10 picolitre print heads to produce 1400 dpi resolution. The UK dealer is Digital Print Innovations.
Renz Hall 11 E39
The punch binding specialist will introduce new kit at the show. There will be a new fully automatic modular high speed punch, the first to output 40,000 punched sheets per hour. It’s intended for books, photobooks and calendars, bridging the gap between fully automated floor standing machines and heavy duty benchtop punches.
A new inline binding line allows fully automated high speed punching and binding, said to be a world first. Book blocks are dropped on to the infeed (conveyor), punched and re collated and fed automatically into the binder. It can also handle calendar work.
An Automatic Cover Turner can be linked to the automatic lines. It flips the back cover after binding and spins every other book 180 degrees for level stacking.
The Inline 760 binder takes large formats up to 750 x 800 mm at up to 4000 bindings per hour. Setup takes only a few minutes and there are numerous add-on options, such as connection to a collator or an additional feeder for covers or inserts.
Renz will also show its existing range, from fully automated punches with short setup times to heavy duty bench top or floor standing systems.
Ribler Hall 6 A39
The company is launching the first production version of a lay flat binding system, using Eco glue for on demand book production.
Rhino-O-Tuff Hall 15 A23
The US punching systems maker is introducing its new heavy duty Onyx series to Europe. The Onyx HD 7700CE Ultima has quick change dies, a 356 mm punching width and a capacity of up to 55 pages. Also new is the HD 7000CE (for up to 40 sheets) and the OD4012, for A4 pages with open sides. The company also offers the modular semi-automatic 3in1 PPS (picks and lifts, automatic paper ejector and stacker), a heavy duty dual powered coil inserter, heavy duty wire closers, heavy duty comb opener. All are modular to allow them to be expanded when needed.
The UK distributor is PDC Presentation Solutions, in Perivale.
Ricoh Hall 8a B46-1 & 3
Since the last drupa Ricoh has established a major presence in digital production printing and also fully integrated InfoPrint, the former IBM Printing Systems.
New at drupa will be the Ricoh Carbon Balanced Printing Programme, which helps users to achieve carbon neutrality. The company’s Business Driver Programme is being expanded with new market intelligence reports, e-learning courses and services and also gains a new tool to calculate carbon footprints.
The stand will be arranged around application zones showing how to implement digital print and move into new markets. The zones are: Marketing, Packaging, Publishing, Transactional and Enterprise. Visitors who pre-register at www.ricoh-europe.com/drupa2012 will be offered a personalised tour of the stand.
The only new product announced in advance is the Aficio CW 2200SP, a large format inkjet plan printer that uses gel inks.
The company is hinting about other new announcements but hasn’t revealed them yet, so all we know will be there is the current Pro C901 Graphic Arts Edition and Pro C751 light production press, plus the InfoPrint 5000 VP inkjet web press. There will also be supporting software including the TotalFlow portfolio.
Samed Innovazioni Hall 14 D42
The new Darix Evolution Light semi auto case maker for short to medium runs and large formats will be demonstrated. It can produce up to 300 cases per hour. A new Photofast HM model for photo books with a new hot gluing system will also be on show. The products are distributed in the UK by Perfect Bindery Solutions.
Sappi Hall 6 C31
The paper company will be in the PrintCity section of drupa, launching its new Houston technical platform, an online knowledge base. It will also have a presence on the stands of Heidelberg (Hall 1) and HP (Hall 4 D21) where it will be showing off Jaz, its coated paper for high speed inkjet printing.
Scodix Hall 3 B31
The Israeli developer of inkjet based raised coating effects is announcing two new machines in B3 and B2 format, plus a new Glitter Station for digital application of glitter effects. See news page 6 for more details.
Screen Hall 9 A40
The Truepress JetSX B2 sheet fed duplex inkjet press will go on ‘controlled sale’ after its appearance at drupa in May. Also at the show will be the new Equios ‘universal workflow,’ a cloud based variable data setup system and a sophisticated camera inspection system for inkjet web presses.
Since the Truepress JetSX’s last public showing at Ipex it has been modified to also handle thin carton board up to 0.6 mm thick, as well as standard offset and inkjet papers. The price is said to be similar or less than Fujifilm’s rival B2 simplex Jet Press 720, which puts it in the £1.2 million league.
A new cloud based variable data web to print system will be demonstrated at the show, although availability is about a year off. It is said to make variable data job setup very easy and will be ‘investment free’ for designers and data owners. Output will be the PDF/VT variable data format files.
Also at drupa will be the company’s Equios workflow: see page 13 for more details.
Although not brand new, Screen will show the latest and fastest version of its inkjet web press at the show, the Truepress Jet520ZZ. A new camera based system for the 520 family, JetInspection JI-500, is being launched.
Shuttleworth Hall 9 E03
The UK MIS developer will show enhancements to its integrated package. These include a new user interface introduced last October. New for the show will be Shuttleworth Business Intelligence, a set of tools including dashboards and mobile apps.
The new Supply Chain Management software is a web based tool, hosted by Shuttleworth, to help printers quickly to obtain prices from suppliers.
Tecnau Hall C74
The inline web finishing specialist will show the TC 1750 continuous punching and fanfold perforator, TC 1550 FL P dynamic perforator and dynamic punching unit, TC 8300 Ultra Fast Dynamic Perforator for 3-up applications, BMS 400.04 Book Making System.
Some of its systems will also feature on partners’ stands including the TC 8200 ultra fast dynamic perforator for two-up applications, TC 1550 FL2 dynamic perforator, cutter and stacker for three-up solutions.
Tech-ni-Fold Hall 10 C61
Leicester based finishing developer Tech-ni-Fold said it will introduce major ‘breakthrough products,’ the result of three years’ development. These are based on the new EnduraCrease creasing matrix that is said to significantly improve results on digitally printed stocks. A more durable and gentle rubber compound is moulded in a circular form to fit all existing Tri-Creasers, so that toner cracking on folding machines is completely eliminated, the company says.
Last year the company set up CreaseStream, a spin-off company dedicated to digital finishing systems.latest user interface.
Tecnograf Hall 13 B90
The company will show new versions of its ANT 250 ANT 500 and ANT 2000 combined PUR/Hot-melt perfect binders along with its ‘Mini-Tec’ Line – MT casing-in Easy Bind Press One Pronto and BC-1 Plus. It will also be featuring its Tower Plus casing-in machine and CUBE case maker.
X-Rite Hall 5 D23
New for drupa is a major upgrade to the X-Rite i1 colour measurement system. The venerable i1Pro spectrophotometer is being replaced with a heavily redesigned model called i1Pro2, naturally enough. This has a reshaped body with a new sensor that can handle the three most common measurement modes: M0 (Standard Illuminant A), the emerging M1 (illuminant D50) and M2 (known as UV-cut). he i1Pro2 is supported by an update to the colour profiling software, i1Profiler software v1.3. X-Rite also owns Pantone.
Watkiss Hall 13 B70
The British company is extending its established PowerSquare booklet maker with full bleed trimming to target the digital colour print market. The addition of a two knife trimmer to the existing trimmer lets it produce full bleed print jobs in one pass directly from the printer with no guillotining needed.
The nearline version of the PowerSquare 200 will also be demonstrated handling variable data printing, which can result in variable thickness books. The company will also show its Divac, Vario and Document Finishing Systems. SquareBack book production will be demonstrated on the SpineMaster as well as the PowerSquare 200.
Xanté Hall 5 D36
The company is best known for its Ilumina range of small, heavy stock digital presses based on OKI LED toner engines. However it has now branched into large format sheet fed inkjet with the Excelagraphix 4200, a 1066 mm wide flatbed model. This is intended for folding carton and corrugated printing, but also suited to foam board and paper jobs such as newspapers and maps. Sheet sizes start at A4 and their length is effectively unlimited, though quoted as 15 metres.
Based on Memjet inkjet heads, it’s very fast, at either 30 cm per second at 800 x 1600 dpi or 15 cm per second at 1600 x 1600 dpi. Pricing will be in the region of £50,000 to £60,000 depending on configuration and accessories. Shipments will start in June, the company expects.
Xeikon Hall 8a B44-1 & 2
Three new models in the Xeikon 8000 family of web fed toner duplex presses will be announced at drupa. The 8500 (160 A4 pages per minute) and 8600 (195 ppm) will be replacements for the current, slower 5000 and 6000 presses, now running on the latest 8000 platform. The 8800 is a new top model, replacing the 8000. See news page 7 for more details
The stand will also preview a new digital print technology called Quantum, which will form the basis of all future Xeikon document printers, it says.
Also new will be the Folding Carton Suite, a package of print engines, substrates, toners and finishing, based around the existing Xeikon 3000 simplex presses.
Xerox Hall 8b A62-1 & 5.
The company isn’t planning to make its drupa announcements until the show opens, so keep a look out for our Digitalpress email newsletter.
We do know that it will have the first European showing of CiPress 500, a high speed inkjet web press that uses a variation of the solid inks from its PhaserJet office printers. It will print on low cost uncoated papers, but we anticipate newspaper rather than magazine quality. Pricing will apparently be somewhat above £2 million.
Also on show will be examples of the company’s extensive range of toner engines for monochrome and colour, ranging from the 550/560 and new D95/D110/D125 copier/printer and D110/D125 printers for office and light production, through to high volume iGen4 sheetfed and various web fed engines.
The stand will feature Application Conversation Stations, where visitors can learn to produce and sell jobs such as marketing materials, photo products, transactional, direct mail, books/manuals and print runs that blend digital and offset. Print personalisation will be demonstrated by XMPie.
The stand will also host daily performances by Cirque du Soleil. You can book a place in advance at www.xerox.com/drupa.
Yemo Hall 7 B23
A Dutch web to print developer, distributed in the UK by Workflowz. At drupa it will show Printspace, which it bills as ‘the least expensive and most capable web to print solution available.’ PDFs are preflighted before upload.
Zecchini Hall 14 C04
The Italian book finishing manufacturer will introduce a system called Silver Arrow, developed for premium quality digitally printed books. It’s a lay flat system, with pages glued together back to back so the hinge forms a spine. the system gathers the printed pages, folds them, glues them and mounts them together. Cold vinyl glue is used.
