As we saw at drupa, inkjet-powered presses are bringing new solutions to variety of business challenges. Yet, for all the buzz, some print service providers are still wondering, “Can inkjet really deliver results?”
General Manager of Commercial Presses for Memjet Bill Brunone says, “What printers need to understand is that the high-speed production inkjet available today is not just a replacement for offset. Instead, inkjet can be a key additional resource for large- and medium-sized printers who want to add a new level of value to the applications they offer to their customers. Now, more than ever, inkjet can provide large- and medium-sized print providers a whole new way of doing business.”
There are several factors that contribute to inkjet’s surge in popularity – and the opportunities it can create. First, there is price. Inkjet-powered presses have come down in price, making the total cost of ownership much more accessible for large- and medium-sized print providers.
In addition, inkjet solutions can now deliver a higher level of quality at remarkably faster speeds than had been previously possible. Also at play is the ease of use these solutions provide. Because there is no special set-up or preparation required, inkjet jobs are much faster and easier to produce.
Many of these advances can be linked to the printheads that are used in single-pass inkjet-powered presses. These are fixed printheads that remain rigid over the substrate and can be flexibly assembled to create various widths and system speeds. The substrate passes underneath the fixed printheads only once to lay down all colors required – often without any additional heat/fusing or curing processes. This results in productivity that can be five to ten times faster than the throughput of toner-based systems and swathing inkjet systems while using fewer moving parts and operating at a lower running cost.
In our next post, we’ll take look at new business opportunities that inkjet can create for print service providers of all sizes. Click on the link at the bottom of this page to get notified when this – and other informative posts – are published.
