SwissQprint Nyala 4: Nine Years of Success

SwissQprint has a stable full of high-quality machines that have several operational functions and features meaning the widest range of materials and substrates can be colourfully enhanced with vibrant high-resolution images. Comprising the Kudu, Impala, Oryx, and Nyala, all machines in swissQprint’s flatbed range stand out from the crowd, but the king of the group has been the Nyala for nine years running.

This is in relation to the Nyala having been the machine of choice in the category ‘UV Flatbed/Hybrid Printers >60” (152.4cm) in the €130,000 – 650,000 price segment’ since 2015, according to Geneva-based market research institute Infosource.

At its heart, the Nyala 4 has up to 18 printheads from which it can deploy your choice of colours. Obviously, you can take the CMYK process colours as standard but there is the option of adding light colours (black, magenta, and cyan), orange, neon (yellow and pink), and any combination of white, varnish, or primer.

Regardless of the colours you choose to print, the Nyala 4 can provide you with an addressable resolution of up to 1,350dpi which translates to a maximum visual resolution of 2,540dpi.

This combination of colours and varnishes gives a wide range of applications which can be applied to an equally impressive series of substrates such as acrylic, aluminium, composite panels, wood, banners, polyester, polycarbonate, polystyrene, (high-density) PVC, flexible foam panels, glass, metals, and many more.

SwissQprint focuses a lot on the green credentials of all its flatbed printers and central to this are the UV curing lamps which are LED. Due to this technology, the lack of the need to heat up or cool down the system gives the utmost production levels and the ability to print on, what is described by swissQprint as, the lucrative market of heat-sensitive plastic substrates.

Add a new member to the payroll with the Rob, the robotic substrate handling device

Added to this, swissQprint has a system that is robust. To ensure the machine is always ready to go and the costs are driven down, the manufacturer recommends regular preventative maintenance and this is also required for its new 36-month warranty. Running costs all add to the eco footprint and the equipment is highly energy efficient meeting ISO standard 20690:2018.

The ozone on this equipment is also missing due to the process so the environment is perfectly safe for the operators and you can rest assured not only will the drying system not add unwanted constituents to the environment, but being energy efficient it does not draw heavily from it either.

Substrate Heaven

With the inks resolved, the next issue is the substrates and the choices you have here to produce on them.

There are several options to choose from and swissQprint has clever media handling options in all three of its Generation 4 machines – Nyala 4, Impala 4, and Oryx 4. Obviously, as a flatbed printer you will expect it to handle flat board; which it clearly does, and does so extremely effectively.

One of the key issues on any rigid media printer is how to locate the substrate in the correct place. The Nyala 4 has in the design of the flatbed a fine grid system in which you can easily peg in registration pins which the substrate is then easily aligned against for accurate repeatability.

If you are completing double-sided printing on the Nyala 4, this register pin system comes to the fore. By planning the image on pre-cut substrate, you can simply flip the board and register it back on the same edges as the first image and the second will back up accurately.

A further board option enables the Nyala to produce on board up to four metres long. This is achieved using a simple-to-use but sophisticated feed system. The oversized panel is held firmly on the flatbed table and when the print carriage reaches the end of the table, the substrate is automatically transitioned to a place where the printhead can seamlessly pick up from where it left off.

Substrate weight is also not a problem for this machine as it can easily hold sheets up to 300kg thanks to the vacuum table. Substrates are then moved on a cushion of air for the next pass or to a point to be offloaded.

Should you be producing a large number of sheets, the Nyala 4 can provide an uplift to production through what swissQprint has called Tandem printing. The principle here is very simple in as much as the table has a front and rear sector meaning once the operator has loaded the front sector with new substrate, the printer sets off printing on those sheets whilst the operator then turns their attention to the rear sector loading new substrate there.

As the printhead carriage has passed over the front sheets it starts to print the sheets placed on the rear of the machine, allowing the operator to exchange printed sheets on the front of the machine with new substrate; all very clever and most of all, productive.

Patented Technologies

Regardless of the sheets and methods of production chosen, swissQprint has one really clever way to hold the sheet to the table. Vacuum is always a challenge for engineers designing equipment and operators using it, it just requires one or two vacuum inlets not to be covered and the efficiency of the whole system can drop like a stone.

The bed on the Nyala 4 has 256 vacuum areas featuring a series of patented Tip Switch Vacuums cleverly designed into the front of the bed so you can place the substrate on the table and then flip over the switches to a closed position in the areas not covered and the vacuum will only focus on the area needed, wasting nothing.

The final part of the puzzle if you are very serious about the product is the use of robotics, aptly named ‘Rob’. In ten minutes or so you can add Rob to the Nyala and with a few simple steps and mouse clicks Rob is off and running. The Tandem printing capability enables the user to control the front and rear sections individually.

Production is secure as Rob talks to the machine and the interface understands what tasks are to be performed and where each sheet not only is, but where it needs to be once finished. So confident are swissQprint in Rob, that they can even suggest you can walk out, close the door, and let Rob do an extra shift all by itself.

Should sheets not be paramount for your clients, the roll option for the machine means the Nyala 4 can take a single roll of up to 3.2 metres and should you want to make use of the dual option provided, the Nyala 4 can hold two reels of 1.524 metres in width. The dual roll system does mean that should you have a job which fits half the width of the printer, you can technically double production by doing two jobs at once.

Sheet weight is no problem with sheets of up to 300kg being moved and secured with ease

Ensuring the substrate is presented to the printhead in optimum condition there is an integrated smoother roller system which ensures any creases and wrinkles in printed material are a thing of the past. Removing static as it passes, it also ensures the trickiest of substrates can be printed with the minimal amount of fuss.

As with any large quality flatbed printer, the Nyala 4 comes with light curtains which slows the printhead carriage if the area is encroached maintaining printing conditions and should there actually be a crash on the machine, the Nyala 4 has software that works out where the stop happened, meaning it picks up where it left off; very clever.

The History of the Nyala

Described as swissQprint’s flagship model, the Nyala had its world premiere as the manufacturer’s first 3.2m-wide flatbed printer with nine colour channels at drupa 2012 in Düsseldorf. A year later, swissQprint introduced reinforced roll-to-roll option and 9pl droplets.

In 2014, the manufacturer introduced the generation 2 Nyala which offered 50% faster printing speeds. Two years later in 2016, Rob was launched. In 2017, power-saving, long-life LED lamps were introduced and a year later the generation 3 model was launched featuring a new printhead carriage and a new controller.

In 2020, swissQprint introduced its revolutionary Tip Switch Vacuum technology and just one year later, the generation 4 model was revealed in 2021 featuring the latest printhead technology available from Konica Minolta. One year later and swissQprint introduced a glass printing option.

Last year, swissQprint reached a significant milestone when it shipped its 1000th Nyala flatbed. The milestone machine was installed at De Resoluie/Van Zijderveld based in Rijswijk, near The Hague in the Netherlands.

It’s this steady stream of continuous development that swissQprint says helps its customers to stand out from competitors. Most recently, swissQprint has introduced a 36-month warranty on all new large-format printer investments. This speaks to the manufacturer’s confidence and commitment to quality with swissQprint having 100% control over the development and production process.

In March, swissQprint also announced that the PrintFactory RIP software is now available for its customers using both flatbed and roll-to-roll options. This software supports white, varnish, primer, and special colours including spot colour management and also provides a cutting driver, calibration, layout, and editor modules as well as workflow and pre-flight tools.

With all this being said, it’s clear the choice of any of the swissQprint machines will not disappoint, but should high volume production and versatility be the key, the Nyala 4 stands out.

Statistics

Flatbed size 3,200 x 2,030mm
Flatbed substrate thickness (max) 50mm
Roll width (max) 3,200mm
Addressable resolution (max) 1,350 dpi
Colours C, M, Y, K, Lk, Lm, Lc, neon yellow & pink, White, varnish, primer, and orange
Printheads Max 18

Brian Sims Principal Consultant, Metis Print Consultancy, www.metis-uk.eu