Konica Minolta will launch its B2 UV inkjet sheetfed press at drupa next year, and says it is a real alternative to offset technology.

Konica Minolta B2 UV inkjet sheetfed press

Konica says the KM-1 printer will produce offset quality at 3000 sheets an hour, and claims it has had ‘immense’ interest from companies around the world. The machine, it says, uses Konica’s UV CMYK inks and Piezo Shear mode printhead technology, printing at 1200x1200dpi resolution. The company says the machine, which will be with an unnamed European printer for beta testing in January, can handle 585 x 750mm media size, and media thickness from 0.06mm to 0.6mm. The beta test company is a commercial offset printer that Konica claims has not moved into digital because of quality issues, but says the KM-1 will produce the quality needed. Konica says the printer will work on a variety of substrates and will be able to produce packaging print as well. Mark Hinder, Konica Minolta 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 are looking at high-quality books, high-quality marketing collateral and jobs on demand where you would struggle to make any profit on at the moment but that you are 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.”

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