Epson Australia has unveiled a number of new presses at a launch in Sydney today.

The company has pushed further into large format with the company’s first ever UV flatbed printer – the SureColor V7000 – and a large format press that uses durable resin inks unveiled at its new demonstration and distribution centre in Sydney’s Yennora today.

The company also used the wide format launch – which replaced a planned visit to its research and development hub in Japan’s Nagano – to show off its new and first-ever industrial direct-to-garment press, the SureColor F3000.

Epson’s global president Yasunori Ogawa appeared on video from Japan and said the Australian and New Zealand markets remain important to Epson as the company continues to zero in on textile, large format and label press manufacture.

“The Australia and New Zealand market and indeed the Oceania market is incredibly important to Epson,” Ogawa said in his address.

“They are both advanced and sophisticated which makes both Australia and New Zealand ideal for helping us understand what customers want from our products and getting feedback on how we can improve them. Our customers in Oceania are always very vocal about expressing their opinions to us.

“For us, it’s all about working with our customers to solve real issues faced by the industry.

“So, although these direct opinions are not always what we want to hear, my big request is that they keep on telling us exactly what they think about how we can keep on improving and better work together.”

Epson Australia managing director Craig Heckenberg said, at today’s launch, that textiles is a key market for Epson.

He said market share for the company in the second quarter of 2020 showed that Epson has 46 per cent of market in DTG and a significant 83 per cent in the dye sub market.

“Textile is a key market for Epson and this shows that when Epson sets its sights  on a market, it succeeds by listening to customer demands,” Heckenberg said.

So what was announced:

First ever flatbed for Epson

Leading the charge was the release of Epson’s first ever flatbed press – the SureColor V7000, which builds on the SureColor S-Series range.

To read more about the technical detail of this press, click here.

This 10-colour press, which includes white and a clear varnish, has a 1.25m by 2.5m bed and comes with a multi-zone vacuum functionality.

It can handle substrates up to 80mm thick and can be used to produce premium packaging, custom cabinetry, signage and POS/POP and even fine arts.

It has print speeds of up to 15 square metres per hour and includes eight Epson MicroPiezo printheads. Epson says each head features 1,440 microfine nozzles with variable size dots as small as four picolitres.

It is this feature that Epson says allows the press to achieve extremely fine gradations in print quality.

The SureColor V7000 is available in Australia from November 2020 with RRPs expected to start from AUD $129,995 excluding GST and in New Zealand from NZD $146,995 excluding GST.

Epson’s resin inkset takes on Latex 

Epson also unveiled the SureColor R5000 Series which utilises a water-based and odourless six colour UltraChrome resin inkset.

There are two presses in the series which forms part of the company’s solvent range providing an array of equipment variety for signage printers to check out.

Epson says the resin ink enables durable imagery and suits indoor and outdoor applications in a variety of environments including schools, hospitals, hotels, shops and homes.

The SureColor R5000 series can print at speeds up to 27 square metres per hour but with reduced OH&S and environmental concerns.

“The new R-Series addresses the existing industry challenges of working with latex inks, and draws from Epson’s years of experience in delivering predictable and consistent output with superior colour and image quality,” Epson Australia said.

“The new 64-inch SC-R5000 and SC-R5000L deliver exceptional print performance and colour control thanks to dual PrecisionCore Micro TFP printheads and Epson Precision Dot Technology. Curing temperatures have been reduced over traditional latex to enable enhanced media support. Precision media tracking and temperature control ensures colour, image sizing and positioning is consistent from edge to edge, top to bottom, and print to print.”

The SureColor R5000 Series will be available in Australia from November 2020 at RRPs expected to start from AUD $49,495 excluding GST and in New Zealand from NZD $53,495 excluding GST.

Industrial DTG

In another first for the company, Epson also unveiled its first industrial direct-to-garment (DTG) printer – the SureColor F3000, which is designed for the mid to large garment printer.

Epson says the SureColor F3000 leverages dual printhead technology and a bulk ink pack system which lowers the cost of ink and minimises waste compared to using Epson cartridge systems.

It also comes with new automatic garment height adjustment and easy user maintenance features to increase production and reduce downtime for garment print shops creating custom apparel.

The press is said to be able to produce a full-size shirt in about a minute, allowing shops to print hundreds of shirts per day.

It can print on a variety of fabric types including cotton, linen and rayon.

For more technical detail on this press, please click here.

Expanded dye-sub

Epson also showed off the latest in its dye-sublimation printer range, the 76-inch SureColor F10060.

This press is aimed at high volume producers where speed, reliability, and efficiency are essential. Some of the numerous applications the SC-F10060 has been designed for include soft signage, fashion, sportswear, home furnishings and décor.

Epson says the press offers the highest throughput of any Epson LFP released to date.

It features four of Epson’s very latest 4.7-inch PrecisionCore Micro TFP print heads that each incorporate four print elements. Active nozzle status monitoring and advanced self-cleaning ensure consistent high-quality output at up to 255m2/hr.

To check out Sprinter’s articles on this press, please click here.

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