Next generation continuous feed inkjet technology for graphic arts production.
Today’s high-volume commercial printers producing graphic arts applications such as books and direct mail have traditionally been offset experts with half an eye on the technological developments happening in digital and inkjet printing. For the most part, they have been waiting for a digital printing technology to come along that could meet their quality requirements while allowing them to offer more targeted, personalised applications that will drive a better response for their customers. They have been looking for versatility to add to their offset printing capacity.
With the launch last year of the Ricoh Pro VC60000, a new generation continuous feed inkjet technology platform, they may have found the digital printing system that can satisfy all of these criteria. It sets a new benchmark for quality in its class as a result of its unique multi-drop ink technology, achieving a physical resolution of up to 1200 x 1200 dpi, with a dynamic variable drop size within each pixel (down to two picolitres) that provides significant additional perceived print quality. It also is designed to meet the high productivity needs of commercial printers, with a duplex system offering output speeds of almost 100,000 A4 images per hour at 1200 x 1200 dpi (up to 40 million impressions per month).
The Pro VC60000 is therefore the ideal investment for medium to large graphic arts printers seeking to future-proof their business, to reach new clients with new innovative applications, and to accelerate offset to digital migration.
Stephen Palmer, head of production print at Ricoh, said: ‘The wait for graphic arts businesses seeking the optimum inkjet platform and partner to grow their business is at an end. At Ricoh, we’ve combined our 25-year experience in print head and ink development with our software and services expertise to ensure we can work closely with our clients as they grow and change for the future.’
At its heart, the Ricoh Pro VC60000 is all-Ricoh. The print heads and inks were developed by the company, and Ricoh’s expertise in these areas, and its commitment to constant advance in the technology and the markets it can help, is underpinned by the resources it has invested in at its Customer Experience Centre in Telford.
While the centre excels as a cutting-edge venue for Ricoh to engage with its customers and help with product testing for them based on their specific needs, it is far more than this. The long-established manufacturing site has been redesigned as a ‘smart factory’, based on lean manufacturing principles. It also has a media qualification centre, and hosts Ricoh’s European Ink Jet Technical Centre, which opened in April 2014, enabling the company to support the growing demand for industrial inkjet print heads across a wide range of sectors, and to carry out fluid and media testing alongside these innovative inkjet technology developments. All of these facilities will aid both Ricoh and its customers in getting the most out its burgeoning inkjet portfolio, in which the Pro VC60000 is a key constituent.
The Pro VC60000’s Ricoh-developed print heads and high viscosity water-based pigment inks ensure graphic arts businesses can control costs with a reliable system that delivers maximum uptime while minimising environmental impact. The press has the ability to produce premium output on a broad range of media that includes uncoated, coated offset, digital, treated and recycled paper stocks. An optional protector coat unit provides a durable ‘scratch & scuff resistant’ layer.
The Digital Front End is Ricoh’s too: the TotalFlow Print Server R600A provides native support for PDF, PDF/VT and AFP/IPDS together with JDF and advanced colour management and imposition tools. It also comes with a new user interface designed specifically for the challenges of graphic arts production.
The Ricoh Pro VC60000 complements the company’s existing InfoPrint 5000 series of inkjet presses, which are designed for the transactional market, and it extends Ricoh’s comprehensive range of inkjet solutions into graphic arts. It also is able to function at the heart of a sophisticated roll-to-roll configuration with paper handling equipment such as that offered by Hunkeler and ancillary finishing equipment, that allows for efficient conversion of the printed web into applications such as variable size book blocks and booklets.
