On October 7, one month to the day after the doors opened at PRINT 13, the Graphic Arts Show Company (GASC) released their final attendance figures for this year’s show. As I expected, the quadrennial event failed to draw as many attendees or exhibitors as PRINT 2009 did. Regardless, I think this year’s show was much more exciting than the 2009 event, especially for those who came looking for new digital equipment.
Despite the buzz, overall attendance was down almost 15 percent compared to the PRINT event held in 2009. This must be somewhat disappointing for GASC given that numbers for PRINT events have been dropping since 1996, the year the show reached its high-water mark of almost 100,000 attendees (see chart). Regardless of fewer attendees in the hall, this year’s show was much more upbeat than the past couple of PRINT events. While foot traffic dwindled on the last two days of the event, the crowds were healthy on Monday and Tuesday. I often found it difficult to walk across certain booths early during the first couple days of the show because of the large crowds lined up to examine the newest products.
GASC has been hosting PRINT events in Chicago for more than 50 years. Initially held every five or six years, in 1997 PRINT became a quadrennial event like the larger European show, DRUPA. Both DRUPA and PRINT showcase products and services for commercial printers, in-plant operations, and others in the print-for-pay industry. Since the 1990s, analog and digital devices have competed for the attention of the attendees and a share of their wallets, with digital machines becoming increasingly prominent at each event. The success of digital in the commercial space was underscored this year by the decision of the analog press-maker Heidelberg, one of largest past exhibitors at PRINT, not to host a booth. Digital hardware vendors occupied some of the prime real estate at PRINT 13 and there was lots of new stuff to see.
Long the preferred technology for many wide-format applications, inkjet technology has been increasingly deployed in production machines for the past five years or so. Walking around the PRINT 13 floor, it was obvious that the trend continues. I spotted several new presses based on drop-on-demand technology running in different booths. There were also plenty of new electrophotographic machines at the show for commercial print applications as well as for office environments. I’ll talk about the inkjet production presses first and then move on to detail the electrophotographic presses I saw, along with some of the office machines at the show.
All in One Hall
Unlike the 2009 event, which was located in the main hall of McCormick Place South and a second smaller space on a lower level, all of this year’s exhibits were contained in the one central hall. Xerox moved into Heidelberg’s old location just inside the main entrance. The Xerox booth featured new electrophotographic hardware including presses and office products as well as the CiPress Production Inkjet System and new inkjet technology acquired with the purchase of the French press maker Impicka. According to Xerox, the market for production inkjet will grow at an annual compound rate of 21 percent through 2015.
Canon occupied the space where Xerox’s PRINT 09 booth was. Canon’s booth appeared to be roughly three times larger than what it had been in 2009. The company used some of the extra space to “virtually” preview its Niagara inkjet technology as well as to accommodate Ocè hardware like the new Memjet-based Ocè ColorWave 900 wide-format machine, which debuted last year as “Project Velocity” at DRUPA. The Niagara unit is based on a four-color ink system, which will be expanded to six stations in future configurations. The machine is capable of imaging B3-sized sheets of coated and uncoated offset media and will have a maximum print speed of up to 3,800 duplexed B3 sheets per hour or 8,500 duplexed 8.5 x 11 inch sheets per hour. It is expected to support print volumes of up to 10 million letter size images per month. Although the device was not actually in Chicago, Canon says its Niagara-based digital presses will begin shipping in the first half of next year.
Next door to Canon, Konica-Minolta had its KM-1/IS29 Inkjet Printer running for the first time in the United States. The firm is investing heavily in the production space and claims to be growing organically as well as taking share from the Big 3—Canon, Ricoh, and Xerox. The new KM-1/IS29 machine features the firm’s print heads and UV inks along with a paper-transport system sourced from the Japanese offset press manufacturer Komori. The machine can print on 23 x 29 inch sheets at speeds up to 3,300 sheets per hour in the simplex mode and 1,650 sheets per hour in duplex. According to Konica Minolta, the KM-1/IS29 does not require special paper and is capable of imaging on standard offset sheets without a pre-coating.
The new J Press 540W from Fujifilm also made its U.S. debut at PRINT 13. It is a single-pass inkjet web press that supports duplex printing and features a tower design for a compact footprint. The machine employs Vivida ink, which the firm says renders graphics and variable content at high speeds with little sheet-to-sheet ink transfer. The four-color Fujifilm Gaphium web label press made its U.S. debut in Chicago too. The machine is available in 13-and 16-inch models and provides an alternative to flexo and screen printing for short to medium label runs. The Gaphium unit employs Fujifilm Uvijet inks.
EP Press Preview
While high-speed inkjet technology is getting a lot of attention these days, vendors demonstrated that electrophotographic technology remains popular. There were several new presses being demonstrated at the show based on EP engines and featuring new toner sets.
Xerox representatives told me the company exhibited a 50-50 mix of inkjet to EP machines at Print 13. The latest iGen unit, the new iGen 150, was previewed in Chicago, for example. The machine, which is due to start shipping in the Q1 of next year, prints up to 150 letter-sized sheets per minute and has a recommended monthly duty cycle of up to 3.75 million pages. It comes with 30,000 sheet input capacity that is expandable to 80,000 sheets with an optional 50,000 high-capacity feeder. The iGen 150 accommodates sheet sizes from 8.5 x 11 inches to 14.33 x 26 inches as well as roll media with an optional feeder. In October, Xerox plans to begin taking orders for the iGen 150 and the base unit carries a list price of $752,000.
Konica Minolta continues to expand its portfolio of production devices and it had plenty of new EP hardware at the show. With print speeds of up to 100 ppm, the firm promotes its new bizhub PRESS C1100 family as its “flagship” line of color presses. The bizhub PRESS C1100 has a maximum monthly duty cycle of 1,000,000 impressions and media handling enhanced with air suction to prevent paper jams. Konica Minolta also unveiled its 60-ppm C1060 and 70-ppm C1070/C1070P color presses at PRINT 13. Based on a new color engine and new consumables, the machines feature so-called S.E.A.D. (Screen-Enhancing Active Digital) IV image processing and inline image and color density controls to maintain stable image quality. In addition to the color presses, Konica Minolta had a new monochrome press in its booth. The bizhub PRESS 2250 prints up to 250 pages per minute, and has a monthly duty cycle of up to six million impressions. Pricing and availability of the new color and monochrome units was not available.
Veteran digital-press maker Xeikon previewed its soon-to-be-released Trillium technology at PRINT 13. The Trillium color press features a LED imaging system and has a resolution of 1,200 dpi with 4-bit level. The machine will have a throughput of about 200 feet per minute, although the firm indicated high print speeds should be achievable. Based on Xeikon’s HVT (High Viscosity Toner) liquid toner, a prototype of the machine was displayed at DRUPA last spring. The HVT particles are 2 micron in diameter, or one quarter the size of those found in conventional toners, according to Xeikon. The firm promotes its Trillium technology as supporting significantly lower running costs while maintaining the high eco-sustainability standards thanks in part to the HVT toner. The particles are suspended in a carrier with low volatile organic compounds, which Xeikon claims is more environmentally friendly than other liquid toners such as those used in HP’s Indigo presses. The company expects to beta test a Trillium press in Europe in the first quarter of 2014.
Now Shipping
For folks looking to buy new hardware, not all the units at PRINT were demo models. Xerox had the new 75-page-per-minute laser Color J75 Press running at the show. It is based on a laser print engine and offers print, copy, and scan functionality. The J75 employs Xerox’s EA-ECO toner with a formulation similar to the toners used in previously released Xerox presses such as the Color Press 800 and 1000. Xerox also promoted its new 136 ppm D136 machines, which can be configured as a printer/copier or as a print-only device. It ships with a paper capacity of 4,050 sheets that is expandable to 8,050 sheets and handles media sizes from 4 x 6 inches up to 13 x 19.2 inches and has a recommended print volume of up to 700,000 pages per month and a 2 million page maximum monthly duty cycle.
While the company is a veteran copier maker, Ricoh is a relative newcomer to the production space. Entering the market in 2006 and releasing its first product just 5 years ago, the firm has been quite active in the space. It released the Pro 8100 monochrome line at PRINT 13. The new mono family is made up of three A3 devices: the 95 ppm 8100s model, the 110 ppm 8110s model, and the 135 ppm Pro 8120s. All three devices provide print, copy, and color scan functionality and are based on the same color laser print engine, which was tweaked for monochrome printing. The machines employ a new pulverized black toner with smaller, more uniform particles than previous generations of Ricoh’s ground black toner. The newly formulated toner has more pigment for improved optical density and a lower fusing temperature that supports faster print speeds as well as lower power consumption.
Ricoh also demonstrated its C5110s color laser print, copy, scan MFP, which is capable of printing color jobs at up to 80 pages per minute. The C5100s is its 65-ppm sibling. Both machines are based on the same new laser engine and feature new technologies to enhance image and color quality. They employ a Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VCSEL), which Ricoh says emits 40 laser beams to monitor and adjust for sheet expansion and contraction. The new C5110 and C5100 also employ Ricoh’s latest generation of PxP EQ chemically produced toner (CPT), which has a particle size of 3.5 microns compared to the previous generation’s 5.5 micron particle. This new PxP EQ toner has the smallest dry toner particles that I’m aware of. From what I understand, 5 microns is about the smallest diameter that could be effectively achieved with a dry toner particle and anything smaller would be too difficult to contain and control. Ricoh appears to have overcome any of these physical restrictions, however, to produce a toner with tiny particles, which the company claims delivers enhanced image quality.
More Than Just Big Iron
While PRINT may be the premier event in North America for Big Iron machines and light production devices, there are always some new office machines at these shows. This year, Xerox promoted its Color 570 and 560 Printer as “cross-over” devices that can meet the demands of commercial printers as well as office users. The MFPs provides print, copy, scan, and fax functionality. The 570 model prints at speeds up to 70 ppm in color and up to 75 ppm for black and white jobs and the slightly slower Color 560 Print prints color and black and white jobs at 60 ppm and 65 ppm, respectively. Both units are based on the same print engine and support media sizes from 6 x 4 inches up to 13 x 19.2 inches. In addition to traditional copier and offset sheet, the machines can image on polyester and vinyl media.
Okidata released its new C900 line of 50 ppm color LED printers in Chicago. The new line features a new print engine and is made up of three machines that can handle up to 12 x 18 inch sheets. According to Oki, the image quality of the new machines has been enhanced to meet requirements of the demanding commercial print market. The new Oki C911dn is a direct replacement for the C9650 and the C931dn replaces the C9850. Both are four-color units. The new C941dn provides a fifth imaging station that allows users to print with an additional white or clear toner. The white toner is designed for printing on dark media and as a base layer for images being applied via transfer sheets to garments. The clear toner applies a gloss finish to enhance image quality and provide additional protection.
RISO brought its new ComColor X1 Series of high-speed inkjet MFPs to Chicago. Launched in July, the line includes five different models based on the same print engine, which features parallel fixed page-wide arrays that allow for high-speed single pass printing. The ComColor 3110 and 3150 are 90 ppm A4 machines, while the ComColor 7110 and 7150 are 120 ppm A3 devices. The differentiating feature between the same speed models is the 3150 and 7150 units provide more paper trays than the 3110 and 7110. The A3 ComColor 9150 sits at the top of the line and prints at up to 150 ppm and is fully configured with multiple paper trays. Aside from the number of paper trays and their respective print speeds, the feature sets on the ComColor units are pretty much the same. The machines offer print, copy, and scan functionality and use a newly formulated oil-based pigmented CMYK ink set. RISO markets the A4 machines as office units and says the A3 machines are geared for light-production applications.
PRINT 17?
Following on the success of its PRINT 13 event, GASC is now promoting next year’s Graph Expo show. The PRINT shows come every four years and Graph Expo is held during the three years between the quadrennial events. According to GASC, attendance has been up modestly at Graph Expo over the past couple of years. Next year, Graph Expo 14 will be held from September 28 through October 1 at McCormick Place South, the same hall as this year’s PRINT event.
I’m already thinking about PRINT 17 and what that show floor will look like. I assume the battle between inkjet and EP will continue to rage. By that show, however, the costs of inkjet devices should be less than what they are currently, so I think EP devices will have given up some of their current installed base at the higher-end of the production market. Overall, I expect there will be a pronounced shift toward inkjet at the top of the market and more toner-based units in the light production category by 2017.
While PRINT events in the future will continue to be important, I wonder if they will be hosted for six days. Fewer and fewer people came to this year’s show as the week wore on and I doubt if many attendees would have been disappointed if the show had closed a day earlier. Faced with significant equipment set-up times, exhibitors might push back on a foreshortened show, however, so I doubt the 2017 event will be much shorter, if it is shortened at all.
Regardless of the show’s length, just as they have since the 1960s, I expect hardware vendors in Chicago hawking their wares at PRINT 2017. All of the equipment manufacturers are betting on growth as the commercial printing industry continues its long march to digital.
