At Printing United, Agfa demonstrated its wide format solutions, highlighting the Jeti Tauro H3300 with MRTR and backlit camera; the Avinci CX3200; and the Inca OnsetX3 HS.
Mike Horstern, global business manager Interiojet for Agfa, says, “Our inkjet solutions have won five Pinnacle awards from the Printing United Alliance. This is testament to our dedication to deliver innovative technology with superior performance and reliability.
“We see great possibilities for our inkjet solutions in Australia and New Zealand, especially in the big population centres where there is a lot of retail going on. Textiles is a growth market and the Avinci has good possibilities. It is a growth market
“At Agfa, we are a full service provider. We build the inks, the machines and the software. On top of that we have great international service. Agfa has a great heritage in software; you can build high end workflow into your systems. For us, covering everything is important. These big presses are major investments and our machines have high uptimes that is extremely important these days.
“We also have a heritage in offset and we have translated those offset attitudes into inkjet as we look to get an equal offset quality on inkjet. But most importantly, we have an honest relationship with our customers.”
Pinnacle winners
The Pinnacle Product Awards recognise products that improve or advance the printing industry with exceptional contributions in quality, capability, and productivity.
The Agfa Avinci CX3200 won the Roll to Roll dye-sublimation on textile (more than $100k) category. Agfa says this new 3.2m wide textile printer produces vibrant high quality prints on a wide range of polyester-based fabrics for indoor or outdoor soft signage, interior decoration, and fashion items. Its capability to print both directly to fabric and to transfer paper results in a wide applications scope. The new Avinci 110 sublimation inks offer deep blacks and brilliant reds that people are looking for in a dye-sublimation printer.
The Jeti Tauro H3300 UHS LED won the UV hybrid/flatbed high volume production category. Mike says, “This is our high speed ‘beast’. It is a heavy-duty, ruggedly built hybrid printer that is geared to extreme workloads and 24/7 printing of outstanding quality with the lowest ink consumption. For the highest efficiency and convenience, it features multiple automation options, including automatic loading and unloading.”
The Jeti Tauro H3300 UHS LED with MRTR & backlit camera took out the automation equipment category. The master roll to roll configuration of Agfa’s fastest Tauro printer tackles rolls of up to 68kg, and features automated double-sided roll printing, even in a dual roll setup. The integrated camera system reads QR codes, generated by the user interface of the printer, to identify the exact location of the image and adjust the print position at the start of each job for front to back accuracy of +/-3mm over 91 metres, at speeds up to 2952 metres per hour.
In the UV /latex hybrid (more than $500k) category, the Jeti Tauro H3300 HS LED varnish printer came out on top. Agfa says with the introduction of varnish printing, either spot or flood, at up to 246 metres per hour, this heavy duty hybrid inkjet printer gives corrugated cardboard displays and paper a high gloss finish as well as a protective layer.
The Jeti Tauro H2500 LED + Light Black printer won the UV/latex Hybrid ($100k – $500k) category. The 2.4m wide version of the hybrid Jeti Tauro printer family offers six colours next to the standard CMYKcm setup. With light cyan and magenta, you can opt for a CMYKck configuration with light black ink instead of magenta. Light black ink provides image smoothness and a superior tonal range with stable neutrals; a must for high end brands looking to show off their products in the best possible way. It also allows for maximum grey component replacement, which decreases ink consumption up to 15 per cent without compromising on image quality.
Agfa has won 16 Pinnacle awards since its first submission in 2014. Mike says, “Digital printing is a major focus area for Agfa. Our acquisition of Inca Digital Printing has strengthened our position in the digital printing markets with high speed systems for both sign and display as well as packaging printing. We continue to invest in ink and software development.”
Despite his many years in the industry, Mike is still impressed with the advancements he sees. He concludes, “If I had told you 10 years ago that I would one day be in Las Vegas selling a printer doing 900 square metres per hour or 1440 square metres per hour for corrugated printing, you would have said I was drinking. Today, this printer is a reality.”
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