There’s no surprise that Fujfilm intends to show a commercial version of its long-awaited B2 inkjet press, the Jetpress 720, but it will also demonstrate a prototype folding carton press using the same offset-replacement technology.
The unnamed four-colour packaging press will use similar technology to the Jetpress, printing up to 1,200dpi resolutions on heavier substrates up to 0.4-0.5mm thick.
Those visitors interested in seeing the Jetpress 720 firsthand will be in luck, with the machine “running continuously throughout the show ” at Fujifilm’s 2,020sqm stand, its biggest-ever Drupa presence.
The Jetpress was originally shown as a concept at Drupa 2008, and initially expected to ship in 2009. The folding carton press is expected to ship in 2013.
Under the hood, these products are running new ink and printhead technology.
Fujifilm has developed a new family of inks, dubbed Vividia, as well as improved the Samba printhead manufactured by its Dymatix division.
Some of the biggest news is in Fujifilm’s XMF suite of workflow products.
John Davies, business strategy manager for Fujifilm Europe, said the company now had more than 3,000 XMF customers worldwide, adding that 50% of sales have gone into competitor accounts.
Fujifim has continued to invest heavily in this area, spending €10m on workflow R&D last year alone, he said.
The vendor has added a new cloud-based colour management system, XMF ColorPath.
According to Fujifilm, ColorPath is designed to help printers calibrate and maintain compliance to printing standards, for instance ISO 12647-2.
The system works for offset, digital and screen printing.
Davies said: “You create colour profiles through the cloud. There is no software installed as an end user; it is all accessed by a web browser. It always delivers the latest version of the software to clients so they don’t need to worry about managing what level of software is installed across the business.”
The rest of the portfolio is also being overhauled, with XMF Workflow brought up to version 5 and XMF Remote advanced to version 9.
Conventional print hasn’t been forgotten, and Fujifilm will also show off a new long-run “low-chemistry” plate at the trade show.
The company continues to focus on environmental footprint of pre-press, across ‘Lo Chem’ and processless, which includes the Pro-T3 announced last year.
New at Drupa will be the Brillia HD LH-PXE. This long-run thermal plate offers up to 500,000 impressions unbaked or up to 1 million impression baked, but with a “drastic” reduction in chemistry usage.
Drupa takes place in Düsseldorf, Germany on 3-16 May 2012.
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