Kodak and Ryobi combine digital and offset power to create a hybrid sheetfed press

The company also announced that the Ryobi 750 series can integrate with the Kodak Prosper S5 imprinting systems.

The latest installation of the Ryobi 750 press was at Komatsu General Printing where the press was installed with a ProsperS5 Imprinting System

Michael L Marsh, Kodak’s general manager of inkjet printing solutions and vice president, said, “It is a unique solution by Ryobi engineers that integrates the Prosper press inkjet technology with the precision sheet control of a Ryobi press. And this integration makes it a dynamic hybrid sheet-fed press.”

“Now the sheetfed printers can enjoy the success and benefits of one-step hybrid printing press that web printers have enjoyed with Kodak inkjet products for quite some time,” Marsh further added.

The hybrid printing press enables customers to print high-quality sheetfed jobs that include variable or versioned information in a single step. The process eliminates the costly use of laser printers to add variable information and the one to two days of job set time prior to laser printing. It provides a single step of offset printing, inkjet printing, and an optional inline varnish station.

Hybrid printing eliminates drying time and enables imprinting on the sheets as they pass through the offset press, saving up to two days in production time as the typical production process involves printing direct mail shells on an offset press, letting the shells dry, and imprinting them on a laser printer.

The varnish option enables a true print and ship capability, which leads to faster time to mail, invoicing and payment. Direct mailers will benefit from new opportunities made possible by the Ryobi 750 series’ ability to run B2 size sheets, which today cannot be post-printed with laser systems.

The Kodak Prosper S-Series Imprinting Systems include the S5, S5 with CMYK, S10, S10 CMYK, S20, and S30. With the Prosper S-Series Imprinting Systems, print providers are able to leverage their capital investments in offset presses and bridge the gap to digital in a one-step, inline process.

The two inkjet printing options available on the Ryobi 750 series press are two heads with one dryer, and four heads with driers and an inline UV varnish station. The Ryobi 750 series prints up to 10,000 sheets an hour.