Offset press manufacturer Komori will use drupa as the platform to broaden its base from its traditional heavy metal platform, its stand will have its new B2 Impremia S29 inkjet press, its first post-press solutions, a new cloud solution, and its Landa based nanographic B1 Impremia S40 sheetfed press. The company will use job matching across offset and digital platforms to show printers that its output quality is not compromised on its new digital solutions. Komori is restructuring its business over the next three years to reposition itself as the offset market offers little opportunity for growth. The manufacturer intends to evolve from being a printing press manufacturer to a print engineering service provider (PESP).
Komori’s Impremia S29
Offset however will remain core to Komori, and it will have a new H-UV L (LED) drying option for its presses, which will be shown for the first time worldwide at drupa. It will launch a new version of the Lithrone G29 B2 press running at 16,500sph. The design has been renovated, and the press has been reborn as a high-end machine meeting the printing needs of increasingly advanced and complex markets. Komori says that in the future this base machine will be developed into a system with productivity surpassing digital printing systems. Komori’s existing LS29 will run in parallel with the G29 for the forseeable future. The Lithrone GX40RP equipped with the latest technologies will show what Komori says will be the ultimate short makeready using parallel control and high productivity of 18,000 sph printing, while the Lithrone GX40 with coater will demonstrate new printing control and a high-precision print inspection system that enable high-speed package printing. All offset presses will be equipped with the H-UV innovative curing system and demonstrated using K-Supply H-UV ink. According to Komori it now has more than 600 H-UV systems installed worldwide, in Australia some 80 per cent of its latest presses installed have H-UV. Four litho presses running on the drupa stand will come with H-UV drying. One of those presses will be the Lithrone G37, the new compact 15,000sph four-colour SRA1 press targeted at entry and mid-level applications, which will be fitted with the LED version of H-UV. Komori will be showing and taking orders for its Impremia IS29 B2 UV inkjet press, co-developed with Konica Minolta, with shipping slated for later this calendar year. It will also be showing and taking orders for the 6,500sph Impremia NS440, the B1 sheetfed perfecting press developed using Landa nano technology, although like Landa shipping will not be for 12 months. At drupa Komori will show a comparison of output from the IS29 with that of an eight-colour Lithrone GX40RP, running a mixed job containing elements from both presses, to show printers the quality standards do not dip. Komori is moving into post press as part of its strategy to move from an offset press manufacturer into a print engineering systems provider. At drupa printers will be able to see the first fruits of this with the Apressia CT137 programmable guillotine, which comes in at 1,370mm-wide, and is manufactured by a third party. Komori’s entry into post press will also see it launch a die cutter in the near future. And it already has a strategic co-operation agreement with Israeli digital finishing solutions developer Highcon for Japan, this may be extended to other countries. Komori will launch its KP-Connect cloud based concept, which is designed to enable print operators with standard skills to produce the same level of work as highly skilled operators. Its scope covers production, quality, maintenance and error reporting information through remote support. Komori will outline the potential for this, along with its new K-Station 4 scheduling and workflow automation system, and K-ColorSimulator 2 colour matching system, which are part of the group’s suite of ICT solutions at the show.
Comment below to have your say on this story.
If you have a news story or tip-off, get in touch at editorial@sprinter.com.au.
Sign up to the Sprinter newsletter