Lay-flat photobooks with mono images are one of the products Fotofabriek is producing with its Nexfinity
Kodak’s first European installation of the Nexfinity press is at Netherlands photo products printer Fotofabriek, where it has been in production for several months.
The Groningen-based business has been beta-testing and using the Kodak sheet-fed toner press since December 2017, where it complements two previous generation Nexpress models and a Xerox iGen. The multi photobook award-winning business has been a Nexpress user for 15 years so it was a logical step to trial the new model.
While the Heidelberg-derived paper handling mechanics of the new press are the same as in the Nexpress line, the Nexfinity uses a new 256-level LED writing system plus “intelligent calibration” to yield improved quality and a decrease in cost-per-print thanks to reduced maintenance, particularly in the imaging and blanket cylinders, which represent nearly half the running costs in a typical Nexpress installation.
Fotofabriek CEO Stephan de Vries said of the new press, ‘The start-up time is way down, there’s almost no maintenance during the day and it produces beautiful products.’ He also noted the benefit of a fifth colour light black that improves quality in monochrome or neutral images and described the image quality and consistency from the Nexfinity as “awesome”, adding that it had delivered all that Kodak had promised.
The Fotofabriek installation involves considerable custom workflow integration based on JDF and JMF to move some 2000 orders a day from its consumer-facing e-commerce websites into production with minimal manual intervention. ‘Jobs go straight into the DFE, the operator puts in the paper, then just checks the quality and running,’ said Mr de Vries. A novel side-benefit of the workflow automation is the ability to produce videos from inspection cameras in the production area that enable each customer to see their products being manufactured via Fotofabriek’s websites. ‘These videos are shared five times on average, so 250,000 orders means 1.2 million website visitors,’ said Mr de Vries.
The press’s four output trays are beneficial in dealing with the mix of work and Mr de Vries also commented on the ease with which the press can switch between substrates. The Kodak Multi-Press control workstation at Fotofabriek has an interface to the company’s CP Bourg finishing equipment as well as to the press and it is planned to put this inline to the Nexfinity. Similarly, a 1m BDT sheet feeder is to be replaced with 1.2m model to suit the press’s extended long-sheet capability, which is already being used to produce lay-flat landscape orientation photobooks.
