Back to its roots

Fespa Digital 2016 opens its doors at the RAI Exhibition Centre in Amsterdam on 8 March, with 450 exhibitors occupying 42,000m2 over seven halls during the four-day event. Alongside the main show will run the renamed Fespa Textile, and the European Sign Expo, said to be 250% larger this time around than was the inaugural event back in 2013. 

At the time of going to press many exhibitors were yet to spill the beans in terms of product launches, rather they were simply setting out their overall stalls. And as usual, certain manufacturers keep what they consider to be major reveals for the show itself. But here’s what’s been announced so far in terms of new/significantly updated products…

Avery Dennison

Avery Dennison will introduce six digital products at Fespa Digital 2016. These will include new MPI 1104 cast films, a new digital wall film portfolio.

The company, sponsor of the Fespa ‘World Wrap Masters’ competition, will also highlight new application training and workshops. In 2015 workshops were delivered in seven locations across the UK, and in 2016 there will be 12 workshops initially, with the promise of more as the year progresses.

Epson

Hard on the heels of its new SureColor SC-S series printers Epson has now announced the latest addition to the SureColor SC-P series, the 64in wide SC-P20000. With a permanent PrecisionCore MicroTFP printhead it is said to be able to produce print at up to 2400 x 1200dpi, even at the highest print speed of 17.5m2/hr. It will be shown at Fespa Digital and be commercially available the same month.

The printer employs a newly developed camera-based paper feed stabiliser and media inductive roller system to ensure it operates smoothly even when unattended. A new Epson UltraChrome Pro 10-colour inkset includes high density Photo and Matte Black inks. Epson said better gradation with reduced graininess is achieved due to the inkset containing four shades of black ink, and Multi Size Droplet Technology (MSDT), while a new printhead structure means fewer vibrations and more accurate ink droplets and dot placement.

There’s also an Epson Colour Calibration utility.

During printing, a transparent printer cover window and roll cover window allows users to check the status of printing and remaining media. After printing has finished, the position of the printhead means that it can be cleaned by the user, along with the ink cap, to help save on maintenance costs.

User efficiency and workflow can be improved further with an optional Adobe post script module; while an optional HDD allows jobs to be reprinted directly from the printer panel, without the need for a PC.

Gandy Digital

The new Fascin8tor 5m roll-to-roll printer will debut at Fespa Digital. The model, which uses Gandy 8-Blade technology and combines eight Ricoh Gen4 printheads per colour, enables printing directly onto mesh without a liner.

Shmulik Lagziel, managing director EMEA, Gandy Digital said: “At Fespa 2015 we launched Gladi8tor, a large-format digital UV flatbed printer with increased application durability and flexibility. The launch of Fascin8tor, underscores our continued effort to deliver large-format print solutions that meet the direct needs of users.”

Hollanders

The show will see Hollanders present the ColorBooster DS, a double-sided 3.2m-wide textile printer.

“A 100% double-sided print is not common at all nowadays and we have succeeded in developing it,” said CEO Jacco Aartsen Tuijn. “Tested at four very different customer sites, on a range of polyester materials, we are not only opening the market for double-sided signage but also for double-sided home decoration and fashion.”

CTO Peter Hollanders added: “With dedicated ink amounts and profiling we succeed in having exactly the same colour on the front and back.”

According to Hollanders, high quality coloured wovens can be printed/fixed in one step as with double-sided soft signage. It said these high quality, double-sided coloured fabrics are now achievable at much lower production costs and will be therefore made available for a much wider consumer group, extending creative possibilities.

Considering eco-awareness is an upward trend in the industry, direct printing with water-based inks is Hollanders’ focus. The company also said that due to the printhead shower, which requires less purging, resources will minimized, and that energy savings are realised via built-in climate control.

The single sided ColorBooster 320, having all the environmental advantages of the ColorBooster DS, can be upgraded in the field. New at Fespa will be the possibility to upgrade to a stacked head configuration and a speed of 120m2/hr.

Supplied with customer changeable Ricoh Gen5 heads, the CB 320 will be delivered with water based direct (high energy) disperse dyes typically suitable for direct printing because of the high light fastness and production stability during fixation without bleeding or a halo.

With a maximum roll weight of 250kg Hollanders said the CB 320 is particularly suitable for overnight printing.

InkTec

The European debut of InkTec’s first LED UV printer, the Jetrix LX5, will take place at Fespa Digital. The printer is equipped with 6-picoliter Konica Minolta printheads and is available with a four (CMYK), six (CMYK+2 white) or seven channel (as six channel but with a varnish/primer) colour configuration. Using InkTec’s specially formulated UV inks, the Jetrix LX5 has a printing speed of 39m2/hr (production mode). It runs at 11m2/hr for fine art printing.

MImaki

Mimaki has added a light black to its range of SB410 sublimation ink spot colours. It joins the relatively new neon yellow and pink fluorescent inks for the TS300P-1800 wide-format inkjet printer for apparel and textile applications. The printer will demonstrate some of the creative capabilities of the inks at Fespa Digital.

Screen

Screen Europe will use Fespa Digital to unveil further developments to its Truepress Jet 3200UV flatbed printer.

Notably, Fespa visitors will see the Truepress Jet operating in both roll-to-roll and in flatbed modes on a range of flexible and rigid substrates.

The Roll2Roll system is able to accommodate rolls up to 3.2m wide, with the unit controlling the tension as well as the suction area and strength of the vacuum system according to the length and condition of the printing material.

The system can be bought a as a factory-installed option on a new Truepress Jet W3200UV HS or Truepress Jet W3200UV ST or retrofitted to an existing model in the field. Once the flatbed table is locked, the printer effectively converts into roll-fed mode.

The machine has a new high-speed print mode using five-pass, bidirectional printing. The Billboard mode is designed for print viewed at a distance of more than five metres.

Sun Chemical

Sun Chemical will officially launch its SunTex ink for textile and soft signage applications at the show.

Two ink ranges will be featured: a dye-sublimation ink for transfer print applications which has been developed to combine bright strong colours, dense black and a tough highly resistant ink film; and a direct print dispersed dye ink for flag and banner applications which is said to provide excellent show-through for double-sided output such as flag printing.

Both inks can be printed onto polyester and polyester-rich textiles and materials.

Live demonstrations will run throughout Fespa Digital, where the company will also showcase its Streamline inks range.

Zund

Demonstrations by Zund will include various automation features for its digital cutters, such as a new robot as part of the S3 M-800. The integrated robotic off-load system picks up cut parts from the machine and stacks them at predefined locations. This fully automated production workflow also involves automatic job retrieval via QR-code. The integrated camera system captures the QR-code printed with each job, enabling Zund Cut Center (ZCC) to automatically retrieve the matching cut file. In addition, ZCC automatically determines the exact location and orientation of the graphics and makes adjustments to the cut path for a perfect match between cut and print.

With the new Automatic Router Bit Changer (ARC), Zund will highlight another automation solution. The ARC comes with a freely configurable magazine that holds up to eight router bits. During processing, the ARC automatically selects the correct bit for the material and task.

Visitors will also see a Zund G3 3XL-1600 finishing rolled graphics. A centre-winder roll-off with integrated dancer system provides optimal tension control.