Ricoh has officially launched its Pro C7100x digital production printer and says it already has eight orders from Australian print firms.

At a well-attended launch party at Sydney’s Carriageworks, managing director John Hall says Ricoh wants to grow the production print market, and says the new printer will give the company inroads into it.

“The main difference with this device is now we have white and clear toner, so this brand new innovation in the market will allow printers to do things that they have not been able to do before, for instance print on black with digital print,” he says.

“This means they can produce different sorts of outputs for their customers, with high quality of course. I think we are really getting into the part where we are directly competing with offset capability.”

[Related: More product launches]

The first buyers include International Connector Group and NPS Corporate, along with several Melbourne sales from its earlier launch there.

Production print national sales manager Raj Chandiok says the Pro C7100x series provides printers with the tools to ‘boost returns on investment, expand digital print services, and promise exceptional image quality to customers with fast turnaround times’.

“The ability to apply spot or flood clear gloss and white, and to quickly switch between the two, is unprecedented at this price point. We believe this will be a game changer for Ricoh customers,” he says.

Ricoh says the machine is designed to support printers who are looking to enter new markets and explore new opportunities in digital print.

It targets graphic arts businesses, direct mailers, service bureaus, digital printers and in-plant print centres and enables more competitive applications like banners, point-of-sale displays, signs, and marketing collateral.

It prints at speeds of up to 90ppm, and supports paper weights of up to 360gsm in both simplex and duplex.

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