A new breed

It is fair to say that over the last five years since I entered the sign and graphics industry as editor of SignLink that I have covered a fair few miles of trade show and demonstration centre floors, but thinking back across that time there is one memory that stands out very clearly in regards to wide-format flatbed print technology.

I had been invited by AGFA to visit its newly refurbished House of Asanti customer exhibition zone in Belgium, and on arrival I was taken on a full tour of the site which spans its historic headquarters and a football field’s worth of demonstration space for its inkjet centre. It was the first time I really got why this sector is just such a big deal and gave me a moment of clarity which explained why AGFA and its competitors are collectively pouring millions of pounds worth of research and development funds into this technology.

In the second part of this special series, I am going to focus on the higher productivity end of the market and try to tease out the full ramifications of what I realised in Belgium and why you should seriously consider adding a wide-format flatbed system to your arsenal if you have not already.

Perhaps a good place to start is to hear from Willy Van Dromme, who is the director of marketing for sign and display at AGFA Graphics, who penned a recent missive to SignLink in reaction to a question put to him as to how long such a diverse market as wide-format inkjet could continue to grow at its current pace:  “Agfa Graphics’ focus is on the wide-format UV inkjet and we see a clear trend to globalization in an environment that is maturing. While quality and speed is expected and size has no limits, the industry is moving up market. More and more professional sign and display printers can be compared to real manufacturing sites. They operate multiple printing machines, benefit from an integrated workflow with connection to MIS systems, apply automatic colour management and/or ink saving tools and receive the majority of their jobs via web to print or online channels.

“Sign and display is not restricted just to publicity signs only. It now includes printing on most any kind of material for the widest variety of applications. Not only is the printer or the ink technology the whole solution.”

Dominant move

These comments from Van Dromme were a preface to one of the biggest technology launches to come out of the sector in recent years as AGFA Graphics unveiled its new UV Inkjet Jeti Tauro and Mira flatbed systems at the International Sign Association’s (ISA) Sign Expo in Las Vegas.

The 2.5m Jeti Tauro has some 32 Gen5 heads across six colours (optional white or primer) and features a moving-gantry architecture with split-vacuum table and the ability to cater for roll-to-roll printing without any loss in productivity. The kit also has a host of new bells and whistles to improve automation and integration with the company’s wide-format workflow Asanti 2.0. Its UV ink set has also been upgraded and features much better flexibility to accommodate the systems hybrid roll-to-roll print capability. The other impressive factor in its price and quality bracket is that it can hit 275sq m/h, which certainly distances it from some contemporaries when comparing apples with apples.



The 206sq m/h Jeti Mira meanwhile is a true flatbed printer, available in two table versions: 2.7 x 1.6m and 2.7 x 3.2m sizes and has a split vacuum table that features six vacuum zones with automatic and independent control of the front and back zones. The ‘Print and Prepare’ mode also allows non-stop printing so printers can load one side of the table while the other is printing.

"We promised a series of new state-of-the-art products in the course of 2015 and we are happy to deliver,” said Dominiek Arnout, vice president inkjet, Agfa Graphics. He adds: “We truly believe the market will embrace these two new systems that make ultimate use of our dedicated ink technology and our tailored sign and display workflow.”

Arnout also claimed that AGFA’s UV-curable inks offer the lowest ink consumption per square meter in the industry, thanks to ‘thin ink layer technology’. The new inks for Jeti and Anapurna systems target flexible applications, special substrates and outdoor signage printed on polypropylene or styrene based media types and are designed to provide increased image durability.

In an online press conference attended by SignLink, a further comment from the company’s vice president of digital imaging, Larry D’Amico, also shed further light on just how important a development for the company this is: “I am going to make a pretty bold statement here, when it comes to UV flatbed equipment we now have the broadest portfolio in the market. And we haven’t been in this business a long time and we don’t have the legacy of some other vendors, but we have come a long way in a very short period of time. Our portfolio now extends from systems that range from $100,000 (£66,800) to $750,000 (£501,210), and we have every price point and speed to match our customers’ requirements.”

This comment from D’Amico is a pretty good summation of what hit me at the multinational’s House of Asanti, namely that even a few years ago there was two or three different productivity segments to consider at the most with a range of ink, automation, and production solutions that were fairly limited and meant that the scope for output was likewise. Today however there is a system for every budget and every conceivable application within the limits of inkjet’s current capability. And this huge leap in development is only being stimulated by one thing: customer demand.



Market drivers

Printing direct to rigid materials has continued to be a growth area in the wide-format digital print sector ever since the original machines incorporating UV-curable ink came to market some 15 years ago. This evolution took away the need to output onto a roll-fed machine before mounting and laminating the application, with the only viable alternative being to screen-print jobs for use in exterior and interior locations.

A key player in the sector which jumped on this trend as it came out the door was EFI, and speaking to its inter-national PR manager Marc Verbiest, he backs up my view about what is driving the market: “Printing machine developments have majored on the ability to use flat-bed technology so that users can work with a broad range of substrates to produce jobs that have, to a great extent, been driven by the point-of-sale and retail markets.

“Their popularity has increased as shorter volumes have become essential and print-on-demand has led to just-in-time production needing to be accommodated to cater for fast turnarounds and quick set-up between jobs.”

The company has a wide portfolio of technology in this area which encompasses its VUTEk GS segment which includes the flagship GS2000lx and GS3250LX Pro systems that feature UltraDrop technology and hit a top class speed of 223sq m/h. Its most recent development in the field however has been the 3.2m high-volume EFI VUTEk HS100 Pro UV inkjet press, which is now available with several automated material loading and unloading systems, and a new, award-winning, material edge guide (MEG) system for printing challenging substrates. The system can handle up to 100 standard boards per hour at full speed in flatbed mode, equivalent to 334sq m/h in roll-to-roll mode, and uses true grayscale print heads for maximum graphics quality.



Verbiest goes on to point out that although combination printers are now popular among many display producers and sign-makers, working with rigid materials has become the mainstay for many businesses who need to satisfy demand for durable products that can be used in indoor and outdoor environments.

As previously mentioned, EFI was one of the original manufacturers involved in the flat-bed wide-format segment, introducing its first VUTEk platform that offered this production capability back in 2000. During the past decade and a half the company has developed a range of printers that offers users the ability to print direct to rigid and flexible materials and it continues to grow its portfolios as new technologies become available to help drive the market forward.

Verbiest continues: “One of the key issues relating to successful production on a broad range of substrates has always been ink adhesion and EFI’s technologies have taken into account the diverse needs of today’s production houses. This has resulted in versatile and reliable ink formulations that provide excellent durability and can produce accurate, vivid colours on all surfaces.

“With its powerful legacy in wide-format printer design and manufacture, EFI was also the first to develop LED technology to bring the benefits of ‘cool curing’ to its users, extending the material options that can be used and removing the problems of surface damage or buckling of the substrate. This technology has also reduced running costs by using less energy as there are no warm up times required, with instant on/off, and lower power levels are required during the curing process.”

O Factoid: A pioneer in the development of flatbed inkjet print technology, the Inca Onset S50i is one of the very fastest production printers in the world and with eight-channels has a maximum real throughput of up to 725sq m/h using a satin bi-directional mode together with automation. O

What faces players such as AGFA and EFI however is that competition in the mid to high productivity end of the flatbed market is getting ever tougher, and research and development spending must be sky high to keep up. This is evidenced by companies such as Screen Europe, which with roots in the commercial print industries production inkjet systems, has also developed three flatbed systems that have made a very good reputation for themselves in the mid-productivity sector. These are namely the Truepress Jet W1632UV (1.6 x 3.2m, 94sq m/h), the W3200UV (3.2 x 1.6m, 85 sq m/h), and the flagship W3200UVHS (3.2 x 1.6m, 150sq m/h).

EFI’s Verbiest continues, explaining how keeping ahead of the pack is more than just building fast printers: “Wide-format will continue to evolve, based on the availability of revised and new technologies and by incorporating customers’ demands for the features they want in their production machines.


“Speed of throughput is always important, as is colour consistency and accuracy, and this is dependent not only on the printer but also on the digital front end (DFE) used to drive it as part of an efficient end-to-end work-flow. With automation also being a key component in busy production houses, automatic feeding and stacking options remove the human element during the printing process and enable leaner operating procedures and more efficient end-to-end processing of queued and longer-run jobs.”

LED brethren

Harking back to Verbiest’s comments in regards to LED curing being the underlying strength of its systems, this is something mid-productivity sector competitor Mimaki and its exclusive UK and Ireland distributor Hybrid Services are also passionate about and believe will be a defining factor in shaping the overall evolution of the sector’s technology.

“There are several key factors influencing the popularity of wide-format flatbed printing. As companies look to reduce costs; printing direct-to-substrate using LED UV technology has a strong commercial argument, such as reduced consumables costs, reduced labour costs, and no investment required for a laminator, along with increased productivity,” explains John de la Roche, national sales manager for Hybrid services.

He continues: “Print quality has greatly improved, but at the same time products have become more affordable meaning wide-format flatbeds are more attainable as an investment. Mimaki wide-format flatbed printers use LED UV technology which has many benefits, both financial and environmental. LED UV lamps are cold, opening up the possibilities of printing to an array of sensitive media, plus increased productivity due to there being no time lost to heating up or cooling down.

“Financially, cold lamps have a much longer life than traditional hot lamps and offer a significant saving in lamp replacement along with reduced electricity costs. Environmentally, LED UV technology is ozone free and produces 75 percent less CO² than hot lamps, which is appealing to many companies who are striving to work within a green-er business model.”


Mimaki’s UV ink selection offers flexibility and very good levels of adhesion, with options of white and clear/varnish opening up plenty of application possibilities. The company has utilised LED UV technology for some time, and with systems such as the JFX500-2131 it is demonstrating that fast and high-quality printing to rigid materials is not only possible, but affordable too. Incorporating a raft of technological breakthroughs that help it run super-efficiently, it is at the very start of the higher productivity scale at 60sq m/h. The efficiency is in large parts thanks to the Mimaki LUS-150 ink which can flex up to 150 percent and this can cope with a much wider scope of materials than some of its market peers.



Old hands

So, having just scratched the surface of what is available in this market segment and perhaps shedding some light on what is driving it there are three other key names that must be considered when thinking about investing in the higher end of the wide-format flatbed technology market—Canon Océ, Fujifilm/Inca, and Gandy Digital. The former two are sparring partners of old with AGFA as they form part of the big four historic imaging giants along with Kodak, which never made the jump into large-format.

The latter however gave birth in its first incarnation to the Jeti system, which went to AGFA when the company bought Gandy Innovations. Gandy was rebooted however with its Digital moniker and Drupa 2012 saw it launch the four-colour plus white Domin8tor (2 x 3.05m) and Pred8tor (roll-to-roll option, 1.2 x 2.4m) that both top out at 120sq m/h—placing them firmly in the centre of the mid-level productivity class. The systems can also be upgraded to six colours with the addition of LC and LM, or taken into the higher echelons of productivity by booting them up with dual CMYK print head batteries.

Another key sector buyout that has given birth to a new breed of technology was between Canon and mid-productivity market front runner Océ. The latter’s Arizona technology launched in 2006 at the ISA Sign Expo and was a huge success, meaning that today nearly five thousand sign-makers and specialist wide-format printers across Europe and the world have invested in the brand. This is largely because it was the first technology developer in this field to really crack the balance between cost, productivity, and quality. With many of its systems capable of carrying white ink and varnish simultaneously, its stable of six individual variants in the mid-volume sector kicks off with the 660 GT (1.25 x 2.5m, 60sq m/h), builds through the 660 XT (2.5 x 3.05m, 64.7sq m/h), and topping out at the 670 XTS (white ink, 2.5 x 3.05m, 155sq m/h).



“We have a position of strength based on the fact we have been a frontrunner in our productivity segment since 2006. Today we sell as many flatbed machines as our competitors combined, which has been verified by Infosource market research,” says Dominic Fahy group manager, display graphics systems and imaging supplies, Canon UK.

He adds: “When we arrived on the scene there were some very well established players, so our systems had to be high quality and productive, but what we did differently was to invest heavily in our direct service support organisation. So today in the UK there are 16 trained Arizona technicians which can be at a customer site and working on the machine no more than six hours after a call out.”

Derek Joys, programme manager at Canon UK also weighed in on what is driving the company’s development and ongoing strength: “The DNA was there right at the start as it was the first affordable flatbed on the market that could produce really saleable quality at the published speeds. It really did what it said on the box. Add to that its image quality, reliability, and ease-of-use, and we had a winning solution—it became the flatbed of choice across Europe.” Joys explains that engineers and designers underpinning the firm are hell bent on pushing Canon Océ’s technology to the very limits while its customer support team ensures that customers can maximise the potential of their investment.

Fahy chimes in that the market however is within sight of its technological peak and improvements will begin to see diminishing returns as it matures. That said, he comments: “What I think is interesting is that if you went back ten years ago at some of the printing equipment available what becomes clear is that the investment and production costs have come way down and you can do far more for less today.” He adds: “To produce photo-quality prints at 150sq m/h you would have made a six-figure investment, but now it’s more like £300,000.”

Big guns

This statement from Fahy is indicative of a trend being experienced by key rival Fujifilm, which fields technology from its Acuity Advance Select HS (60sq m/h, 1.25 x 2.5m) right up to its world beating Inca Onset S50i that can hit a staggering 725sq m/h (3.14 x 1.6m) through the use of 224 print heads (56 per colour).

“Fujifilm’s printheads and inks are key to our success. Our screen heritage and deep expertise in ink development gets us recognition from customers and even competitors for our technical competence. As an established manufacturer we have in-depth experience of both traditional and digital markets which, together with our technology partners, allows us to deliver products that meet customer expectations. The applied sciences are in many instances second to none,” says Steve Cookman, product manager Inkjet, Fujifilm Graphic Systems UK.



 He continues, marking out where there is room left for technological development in this sector: “Over the last decade we have seen print heads get smaller, house more nozzles, jet at higher frequencies and remain fully functional for longer. Our inks boast excellent adhesion to a variety of substrates, cut without chipping, crease without cracking and reproduce a wider colour gamut. We can expect ongoing developments in this direction as inkjet goes mainstream.


“Media handling will also increase ease of use and automation to avoid bottle-necks in the production environment. However, some printers may still appreciate the flexibility of manual loading. Finally, software solutions will further advance, simplifying operation and optimising productivity.”

This conclusion from Cookman about the incremental gains to be had in the future is agreed to by Heather Kendle, director of sales and marketing at partner company Inca Digital: “There is no doubt that ongoing improvements in hardware—automation, engineering, print heads, ink handling systems, and so on—will impact the all-round performance and flexibility of wide-format printers. But it will be the advances in ink, other fluids, substrates and software that I expect will have the biggest impact in the future.



“This will provide the ability to jet a wider range of inks and fluids onto a wider range of substrates—at speed and in great quality—coupled with the ability to interrogate and evaluate printer performance data to improve all round business performance.”

Kendle really does sum up what is driving the heart of this sector and will ultimately be the factor that will influence your buying decision. Essentially, the ability to produce high quality text and images on multiple materials, fast and cost-effectively from a single copy upwards, has transformed the signage and point-of-sale markets and continues to open up new areas of business. The capabilities of today’s wide-format flatbeds are inspiring users to develop creative retail campaigns and interiors that can be refreshed more frequently than ever before. In essence, the growing capabilities of this sector’s technology is expanding the market in a very profitable self-perpetuating cycle.

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