Konica Minolta will use drupa for the commercial launch of its B2 UV inkjet sheetfed press, and has scheduled a European printer to take the press on beta test from January.
According to Konica interest in the KM-1 has been ‘immense’ from around the world, with the company claiming that it will produce offset quality at 3,000 sheets an hour.
The un-named beta test printer is a commercial printer using offset presses that Konica claims has not moved into digital because of quality issues, issues that it says are rectified with the KM-1.
The machine, which uses Konica Minolta’s UV CMYK inks and Piezo Shear mode printhead technology, printing a 1200x1200dpi resolution, it can handle a 585x750mm media size, and media thickness from 0.06mm to 0.6mm.
KM says the printer will work on a number of different substrate types and will be able to produce packaging print as well.
Speaking with ProPrint sister magazine Printweek in the UK Mark Hinder, Business Solutions Europe head of market development says, “KM-1 is not a transpromo or transactional press designed to produce invoice statements. This is a high-quality offset transfer to digital device where you’re looking at high-quality books, high-quality marketing collateral and jobs on demand where you’d struggle to make any profit on at the moment but that you’re doing to feed revenue and turnover.
“This is where that shift change is now going to come to reality. No longer will you have to be tied to buying plates purely and simply because you had to do that because of quality. This is a real alternative to offset technology.”
The chassis, feed, transport and delivery is the Komori part of the product, with the inkjet technology from Konica Minolta. The marrying of inkjet with heavy metal is a theme in the new breed of inkjet digital, Heidelberg has teamed up with Fujifilm, Landa with Komori, Ryobi with Miyakoshi.
The upcoming drupa is gearing up to be a digital launchpad, with multiple manufacturers including Heidelberg and Landa launching inkjet sheetfed, joining established players Screen and Fujifilm, and no doubt others yet to be announced. KBA already has digital inkjet but in web form, Miyakoshi is working with Ryobi.
Sales so far though for B2 inkjet sheetfed have been sluggish for both Screen and Fujifilm
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