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Product Watch: Provin Technos’ Miyakoshi MJP 20EXG

PrintWeek Team — Fri, 06 Jun 2025 11:08:00

Miyakoshi allows for a duplexing mechanism within a single tower design. The tower has been designed in such a way that Side A and Side B are placed vertically. This eliminates turning the paper for printing on the back side, making it a turn-bar-less operation. “Even though it is a single tower mechanism, it is the fastest-in-class press at the moment,” says Akshay Kaushal, Provin Technos.

Miyakoshi has been the OEM supplier for many major digital brands for decades. It has been known for its patented transportation system. It also permits colour management and flexibility.

The MJP 20EXG has been made for uncoated paper. Furthermore, it has a drying system designed to ensure quality at high speeds. The inks are high-density water-based inks. It achieves a consistent output of 160 metres per minute.

The print job setup is fairly simple; it must simply be uploaded to the press, and is then ripped and ready to go. The output across the runs does not vary. In inkjet presses, consistent output is dependent on three factors: ink quality, print head and how strong the software is.

The press has the option to integrate an inspection system inline, which works on two aspects, one is the missing nozzle compensation, which is useful in compensating for blocked or misfiring nozzles in the printhead, and an automatic registration system, which aligns the print automatically which may happen due to paper expansion or contraction.

Since the inks are water-based, the drying mechanisms used combine infrared lamps and hot air. The drying capacity plays a large role in the media handling at high speeds and quality print results.

The press only requires the file in PDF format from pre-press. Provin has a team of trained engineers for on-site support. Miyakoshi also offers remote support. Provin Technos maintains a stock of spare parts at its New Delhi office in case of emergencies.

The press also has an energy-saving mode for when it is on standby to avoid any unnecessary energy consumption. It also has automatic cleaning and purging features for the printheads, which reduces the time required for cleaning in comparison to doing it manually again and again.

Provin has installed three presses of the Miyakoshi MJP 20EXG at Friends Color Images, who work with transactional printing, SAP Prints and Repro Prints which produce books.

Product of the Month: Heidelberg Speedmaster CX 75

Rushikesh Aravkar — Wed, 21 Jun 2017 11:50:00

When PrintWeek India spoke to the 111 print firms who have made significant investments in the last 12 months for our anniversary issue in May, three things emerged. One, the Indian printer now realises the significance of workflow software and process automation on the shopfloor, which a few years ago was regarded as ‘only-for-biggies’ product. Two, the need for automation is driven by the urge to turnaraound more number of jobs in less time and beat the competition, but the current print volumes do not make economic sense to invest in high-end automation. Three, if the value offered makes business sense and fits his pocket, even a small Indian printer in C-tier city is willing to invest.

In that sense, this month’s Product of the Month, the Heidelberg Speedmaster CX 75, which was introduced at China Print last month, is an ideal offering for the Indian market.

The mid-range Speedmaster CX 75 is Heidelberg’s latest B2 Speedmaster, a hybrid press that combines elements from its XL 75 B2 flagship and the SX 74.

The most striking feature of CX 75 is its footprint, which aptly addresses the pressing issue of every Indian printer, the constraints with space. The CX 75 has a width of 2.81-metre and 2.05-metre height. It is the narrowest printing press designed by Heidelberg in the B2 (50x70cm) format. A five-unit press with coating unit will be 11.6-metre long.

For Heidelberg the CX 75 is an important press as it closes the gap between its Speedmaster SX 74 and XL 75 models, and completes its portfolio in the B2 format.

“The first commercial deliveries are slated for November,” informs Heidelberg’s managing director in India, Klaus Nielsen. “The Speedmaster CX 75 combines the best of both worlds – the innovative platform of Speedmaster XL 75 combined with the components of SX 74.”

The machine is based on the XL 75 platform, in terms paper travel and delivery, but uses a number of SX 74 components, including the suction head feeder, to minimise footprint and keep its price down. Unlike the XL 75, it does not come with a perfector option.

This Speedmaster CX 75 press is available in two formats. The C format, focused on commercial print, handles sheet size of 530x750mm, while the F format, which has also been available for XL 75, is well suited for board printing and inflexible substrates, with a maximum sheet size of 605x750mm. The F format with that extended print area is an interesting choice for packaging applications as it allows the user to accommodate additional ups of cartons or labels in one impression than in C format.

Thanks to its double diameter impression cylinders, just like in XL 75, the CX 75 can take substrates ranging from 0.03mm to 0.6mm in thickness. The top production speed is 15,000 sheets per hour. The CX 75 is available in four, five and six colours with a coating unit.

It has a fully automated wash programme as standard and even though it not a machine in Heidelberg’s high performance XL series, it still can be fully integrated with Heidelberg’s Prinect Press Centre 2 digital workflow, allowing for makereadies of less than five minutes and easy data transfer. The integration with a digital workflow is a big plus as the printing machine pulls all the necessary information for job setting from the software. Thus, most of the tasks in readying a press for the new job such as positions of side lays, feeder and vacuum belt and adjustments for suction and blowers on the basis of weight and size of the substrate are completed automatically. These settings can be logged for later recall.

“The Indian market is an excellent market for the SX 74 and there is a huge potential install base for this machine, especially because the customers want to grow and go to different markets, where packaging is more involved,” Nielsen said. “It will also be of interest to those print shops that operate one or two shifts and are looking for an attractive price-performance ratio.”

The user can choose between three different drying technologies with the DryStar dryer matched to the sheet travel of the Speedmaster CX 75. It can run with classic UV for carton printing as well as LE-UV and LED UV. The DryStar LE (low energy) UV dryer uses highly reactive UV inks and coatings, and therefore needs less energy. The DryStar LED dryer achieves the highest energy efficiency among the three. This again emphasises the versatility that Heidelberg is looking for. It suits “the growth in new applications without the need for excessive investment” says Nielsen.

During China Print 2017, Heidelberg’s booth featured a four-colour CX 75 running the company’s DryStar LED technology.

Competitive market

The B2 market is a very competitive space, with a wide array of alternatives, and Heidelberg knows it has a tough battle on its hands if it wants to significantly increase its market share.

So what are the main strengths and highlights about the CX75 in this crowded market? Smaller footprint, attractive price-performance ratio and the optimum level of automation will play in Heidelberg’s favour in the B2 segment.

Moreover, Heidelberg is an established brand in the market and most of its Indian customers swear by the service support and technical prowess that it possesses. This will definitely be a huge advantage for the manufacturer.

SPECIFICATIONS

Max sheet size 530x750 mm

Min sheet size 280x350 mm

Substrate thickness 0.03 mm - 0.60 mm

0.03 mm - 0.80 mm (option)

Max speed 15,000 sph

Contact Peter Rego

Heidelberg India

peter.rego@heidelberg.com

THE ALTERNATIVES

Komori Lithrone G29

The 16,500sph press is bristling with the latest automation systems for fast makeready and job changeovers, and is targeted at added-value printing applications. The maximum sheet size is 530x750mm and the G29 handles stock up to 0.6mm in thickness.

Max sheet size 530×750 mm

Max speed 16,500 sph (straight printing)

Contact Sangam Khanna

Insight Communication & Print Solution India

sangamk@insightwithin.com

RMGT 760

The 760 models boast “excellent cost performance” to meet printing market needs for lower costs. The maximum printing area is large enough to easily handle 8-up printing of B5 size, and integration of the operation stand into the press reduces installation space. The press can be configured from two to six-colour unit as a straight or a perfecting press.

Max sheet size 600x765 mm

Min sheet size 200x279 mm

Substrate thickness 0.04 mm - 0.6 mm

Max speed 13,000 sph

Contact Vinay Kaushal Provin Technos vinay@provin.in

RMGT 790

The 790 models, according to the company, can be configured according to user needs, providing the optimum printing environment for increasing productivity and profitability. The thick cardboard specification model can handle sheet thicknesses up to 0.8 mm

Max sheet size 600x788 mm

Min sheet size 200x279 mm

Substrate thickness 0.04 - 0.6 mm

(Thick cardboard specification: 0.04 - 0.8 mm)

Max speed 16,000 sph (straight printing)

Contact Vinay Kaushal Provin Technos vinay@provin.in

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Zund G3 digital cutting table

PrintWeek India — Thu, 04 Feb 2016 16:31:32

With over 20,000 installations across the world, Zund’s digital cutting tables can be regarded as an established piece of kit in the market.

When the Swiss manufacturer decided to establish a fully-owned subsidiary in India in 2012, the company had 85 cutting tables put into service in the country. With another 16 machines hitting the Indian shopfloors in later years, Zund has now crossed the 100 mark this year.

Zund India’s general manager, Prasanna Venkatesh feels that the new generation S3 and G3 cutters have helped to improve the brand image further.

Zund has three series of cutters – G3, S3 and L3. While the G3 and S3 are similar kit with minor differences related to beam clearance. and the number of modules that can be upgraded. The L3 series is specifically used for leather cutting application.

“Most of the tools are interchangeable for G3 and S3, and most of the jobs that G3 can do, can also be done by S3 and vice versa,” points out Venkatesh.

When Mumbai-based Dot Digital bought the G3 model in 2015, it readied itself to cater to niche print requirements in interior designing, point-of-purchase (POP), architecture, restaurants and hotel sectors. According to the managing director of the printing firm, Suresh Shetty, modularity of the machine and its speed was a deal clincher for Dot.

Angad Shetty of Kohinoor Printers shares a similar opinion. Kohinoor’s investment in the S3 cutter at its Pondicherry plant was favoured for the host of modular options offered by the machine.

So, what is the modular design concept that all Zund cutters boast about? Venkatesh says, “It allows the customer to configure the required tooling in a few quick steps.”

The G3 cutters come in 10 different sizes and are available with a beam height of 30mm, 60mm and 120 mm. “Depending on the configuration, up to 110 mm thick materials can be processed. No matter the type of product or the run-length, the G3 line of cutters lets you select the perfect machine size for all the production needs,” adds Venkatesh.

The machine is furnished with a fully automated calibration system for blades, bits and crease wheels, which helps to make the set-up of a process fast and precise and save time. The system eliminates any manual intervention for determining the correct cutting depth.

According to Venkatesh, “The cutters are designed for sturdy operation, and one can depend on their G3 for consistently high-quality output, reliability and longevity.” The digital cutter has an intelligent safety feature which protects the operator and has to intervene in the production process only when necessary.

Integrated software

Zund Cut Centre, the software from Zund includes an extensive material database with optimal cutting parameters for every material and every Zund tool. The software is completely integrated into the digital workflow and supports the user in every phase of job preparation.

The drive system and the vacuum system are the critical components in the digital cutter. Zund’s digital cutter is equipped with a direct drive, brushless, torque motor and has no gearbox for maintenance. This reduces the noise levels. The vacuum system is built with a step-less vacuum turbine that lowers the consumption of electricity. Also, the entire vacuum table is zoned, and the vacuum fixation happens automatically based on the width of the material.

Venkatesh says, “Optimal processing methods, state-of-the-art vacuum generators and sophisticated material-advance systems keep energy demands low and contribute to the eco-friendliness and sustainability of our products.” Venkatesh adds that the machine can easily integrate with the entire workflow of the customer.

Cutting-edge technology

Zund’s digital cutting systems find applications in a wide variety of industry segments –signage, packaging, textiles, leather and composites.

From POP signage, vehicle graphics, 3D installations, corrugated boxes to innovative packaging prototypes, foam packages and textile products are part of an extensive bouquet of applications that a Zund cutter can offer.

The cutters find applications in cutting and routing a wide variety of substrates used. The substrates can be fed on to the machine in a roll, sheet and or board forms. It can be used for cutting/routing in simple straight lines to difficult profiles just by feeding in the relevant cut files (design format) into the ZundCut Centre driving software, which comes as an integral part of the machine.

A change in mindset

The attitude of printers towards cutting tables is slowly changing, Venkatesh says, “As far as the digital cutting tables are concerned the customers slowly realise that this has to be an integral part of their operations for the reason that such tables bring in the much-required ease of operation and needless to say, quality.”

According to Venkatesh, “The digital cutters can make the difference. For a packaging converter, it could be a sample maker and can also act as a marketing tool to attract vendors. Whereas for a signage customer, such a table would not only address his production requirements but can also take care of servicing his customers with new innovative and creative solutions.”

A solution

Being modularly built is one of the key USP’s of the digital cutter when compared to its counterparts. Along with the machine, Zund offers a solution for the business needs according to the customers’ requirement.

Venkatesh says, “We not only try to cater to their current requirements but also adds value to our customers’ business by enhancing their capabilities in serving their customer in a better fashion.”

Additionally, Zund machines can cater to various levels of operations in a firm. The machine can provide to a client who is looking to do a sample cutting or prototyping to a full-fledged production on the machine. The machine is equipped to handle a wide range of requirements of the customers.

The investment in the kit, according to Venkatesh, can be justified by the way of increased margins that the customers can foresee by offering additional value and solutions one can offer to their vendors.

SPECIFICATION
Cutting width 1330 mm x 800 mm to 3200 mm x 3200 mm (16 different table sizes) Max feeding height 110 mm Knife speed Linear cutting speed shall be 1.4 m/s. Contact Prasanna.venkatesh@zund.com

The alternatives
Kongsberg XP24 The Kongsberg XP is built to handle the combination of corrugated board and other rigid or roll materials used in POP products and product displays. With the kit one can produce jobs from a single unit to a full-scale production with up to a 1000 units in a day.
Cutting width	1680 mm
Maximum Cutting thickness	50 mm
Stack height using feeder	Upto 150 mm
Maximum Thorughput	180 sheets / hour
Maximum Number of Sheet Stacks	Upto 3 stacks simultaneously
Speed	100 m/min
Contact	Pradeep Ram, Esko +91 80 4352 0102 pradeep.ram@esko.com

Product of the Month: The Arziro way to protect brand

PrintWeek India — Fri, 18 Sep 2015 16:26:21

Earlier this year, in June 2015, Agfa Graphics introduced a new security design plug-in for Adobe Illustrator, which is believed to be a significant development in brand protection and anti-counterfeiting sector.

According to a European Commission report, 7-10% of world trade is infected by counterfeit goods, costing brand owners approximately EUR 500 billion. The report calculates counterfeiting as being responsible for the loss of around 2.5 million jobs across the G20 countries.

Anit Kumar Saha, lead consultant, software services at TechNova, says, “The Indian market has realised the importance of security design as a form of brand protection as well as an element of differentiation, and this will help popularise Arziro, which fills this requirement perfectly.”

Not that, there have not been any powerful tools in the general security market. Traditional brand protection solutions deploy holograms, OVD’s, taggants, serialisation, etc, at the end of the production process by the printer or the finisher. However, something which overlooks the most basic and critical element of graphic design makes Agfa a unique contender in the security printing arena.

Arziro Design is a dedicated product for the general security market inspired by Fortuna, Agfa Graphic’s high security design solution.

“The layout and graphic design is the most basic step of the overall printing process. Arziro is unique, as it enables the brand owner and graphic designer to add protection in the primary graphic elements of the package or document design,” says, Saha.

To achieve a solid brand protection and anti-counterfeiting programme, brand owners and printers have relied on a layered approach. According to Saha, Arziro is the ultimate tool in the layering process.

It gives complete control to the brand owner and graphic designer allowing them to create each design that can be as unique as their creativity allows them.The combination of aesthetics and security is in the hands of the graphic designer.

The bottom line, says Saha, is that security graphic design is now brought in-house, close to the package creation, resulting in increased control, full integration and reduced design costs.

Saha adds, “By themselves, the printing process and materials have zero or little protection; it is the inventive combination of many techniques including the graphic design that brings a harmonious intrinsic balance and unites all elements together to create the total layered solution.”

SPECIFICATIONS
Operating System: Windows 7 64-bit or Windows 8.1 64-bi Processor: Single Intel Xeon E5-1603 processor or higher Memory: 8 GB RAM or more Hard Disk: 500GB SATA disk Video Card: Nvidia NVS 310 Monitor: 1280 x 800 monitor Contact: Anit Kumar Saha, TechNova, +91 9920642420, anit.saha@technovaindia.com

During a demo to the PrintWeek India, one thing is clear: The plug-in, which is available for both Mac and PC, works seamlessly with Adobe Illustrator CC2014 and allows the designer to incorporate existing designs with security elements. In addition, since the solution is parameterisable: a user can choose from pre-defined parameters or created custom ones, which makes it unique.

Arziro allows the graphic designer to create elements that are difficult to reverse-engineer. Typically, reverse-engineering, today, is done with commercially available off-the-shelf graphic design and desktop publishing software.These widely available products offer many tools, which make it possible to efficiently create simple illustrative graphics.

It was also clear: Arziro creates ultra-complex structures, anti-copy features and relief patterns that cannot be re-created by simple duplication or other basic tools that are commonly available in graphic software.

Arziro offers twelve security design tools to create counterfeit-sensitive designs. The solution also provides the opportunity to enhance already existing labels and packages with very complex and hard-to-copy Arziro designs.

A Case-Study: The Power of Arziro

Saha explains the features with an example. The carton design illustrates the usage of Arziro as a very effective anti-counterfeiting tool, by highlighting two parts of a package.

Saha says, “The design was created in such a way that is uses the full output capabilities of the digital printing device (Xeikon3000 Series) using CMYK and one spot colour.”

The illustration (along side) clearly shows the complexity for a counterfeiter to reproduce the design without the proper tools and the original design elements.When trying to copy or to reproduce such a design, fine elements are lost and depending on the reproduction method parts of the designs are colourised. In this case it is instantly visible without the usage of magnification tools that the reproduction is fake.

Figure 1- Enlargement of a part of the original printed design using variable line thickness

Figure 2 - Enlargement of a part of a reproduction of the package using a printing device with the same resolution as the original.

‘Figure 3’ contains a magnification of a part of the original illustration. The black planes are obtained by using the Arziro Path Definition tool in combination with rich black. These elements have a glossy 3D effect on the original print, but almost invisible in the reproduced print (Figure 4). The fine details in the polygons are deteriorated and almost invisible to the naked eye.

Figure 3 - Enlargement of a part of the original printed design

Figure 4 - Enlargement of the reproduction

The complete design was created using Adobe Illustrator and a combination of the following tools: Special Rasters, Special Reliefs, Crystal Patterns, Path Definition, Line/Object Generator, Guilloche Library and Multiply.

With Arziro’s Special Rasters tool, any security screen one can think of can be created using custom design elements. This tool replaces a template design (such as a picture or a drawing) by a set of objects, which are positioned and modified according to the grey values of a template image or design. Very small, yet printable, line work elements compose exclusive customised screens.Security screens can generate interference patterns when copied.

With the Special Reliefs tool, relief designs based on a line or object and an image template can be created. This tool generates beautiful relief backgrounds in no time. The security aspect in these designs lies in the very fine relief lines that follow the luminance of the template image Very fine strokes enhance the security aspect of your designs.

The Crystal Patterns tool develops beautiful decorative patterns consisting of repeating shapes, based on crystal types appearing in nature.

Finestrokes and small objects make copying a problem.

The Path Definition module generates complex backgrounds with a continuously varying shape and position of one or more objects. The objects can be repeated either on a constructed path or on a path defined by parameters.Because of the very complex nature of a background created with PathDefinition, reproduction of the design is virtually impossible.

With the Line/Object Generator tool patterns can quickly be generated and automatically fill selected objects with these patterns. This tool is typically used to create latent image designs,each of which filled with the same pattern at a different angle so that the individual objects are difficult to distinguish.

The Guilloche Libraryis used to create copies of pre-defined guilloches, which are repetitive patterns with very fine detail.

Multiply is a repetition tool to quickly create complex object patterns consisting of large numbers of repetitions based on a single object or several objects as a whole.

Opposite Ink Selector is a colour scheme exploration utility, but was not used to create the package design, as there was only one spot colour available. This utility tool is used to create colour schemes that are difficult to reproduce because the colours are out-of-gamut or completely opposite. The system will search the closest match for these colours in a specified Adobe Illustrator colour book.

According to TechNova, the Arziro Design Solution has been available since June 2015 and will be gradually improved by adding dedicated copy-sensitive design patterns and a SaaS (Software-as-a-service) solution to generate physical protection marks that can be authenticated using a smartphone.

In India, TechNova has been working with customers with specific requirements and helping them evaluate Arziro within their printing conditions and environs.

The Alternatives

Founder super line

The China-based company’s Super Line is an anti-counterfeit digital design software for producing printed products. Improvements in SuperLine 4.7, since its release in 2012 now supports full package and customized package with selected modules like texture, lace, microtext among others.

Jura high security design software

This proprietary software from Hungary-based company includes its flagship graphic design application to create and compose elements and finalise up-to-date graphic artwork of all kinds of security documents at top level, and additionally its optional software plug-in modules.

Product of the Month: Ricoh Pro C7100x

PrintWeek India — Fri, 10 Apr 2015 23:32:31

It was in November 2014, during the Eastern Print Pack in Kolkata, that Ricoh gave an India launch to its latest digital printing option with a fifth station, the Ricoh Pro C7100x. This was the same exhibition, where the company also unveiled a new alternative to click charges with its lifetime warranty plan.

Ricoh says the Pro C7100x series is aimed at companies that are looking to enter new digital print markets including graphic arts businesses, direct mailers, service bureaus, digital printers and in-plant print centres.

“The ability to apply spot or flood clear gloss and white, and to quickly switch between the two, is unprecedented at this price point,” says Anjana Saha, national business and marketing manager, production printing – BU of Ricoh India adding, “We believe this will be a game changer for Ricoh customers.”

This seems true when we look at the installation numbers. It has been only four months since the launch and Ricoh India team has already picked up orders from 20 customers. This is because “the product price is very competitive for the Indian market,” adds Saha.

The Ricoh Pro C7100x series prints at speeds of up to 90ppm, and supports paper weights of up to 360gsm in both simplex and duplex.

“The main difference with this device is now we have white and clear toner, so this innovative feature will allow printers to do things that they have not been able to do before, for instance print on black with digital print,” he says.

The paper size that the machine can take is of 13x27.5inch. An optimal image quality of up to 1200x4800dpi is achieved with Ricoh’s enhanced VCSEL.

What is VCSEL?

VCSEL stands for vertical cavity surface emitting laser technology (pronounced ‘vixel’) refers to the type of laser diode used to create the image. This class of laser is economic to manufacture, offers high power and, because it can be built in 2D arrays of multiple-beams, enables printing machines that combine high resolution with high speed. Ricoh first introduced the technology in the C751.

According to Saha, the advantage of the 4,800dpi along the length of the sheets is that it enables the printer more adjustment latitude and the ability to register the image to the leading and trailing edge of the sheet.

The Pro C7100x supports an extensive range of media including new textured media technology, and applications include light packaging, demo packaging, direct mail, books, brochures and business cards. Saha says it is also suitable for banners, point-of-sale, signs and marketing collateral.

Pune’s Dezigner leverages C7100x

Dezigner Enterprise, located near Shaniwar Wada in Pune, is a boutique digital print shop, whic has installed India’s first C7100x. The company, besides this new machine, has a Ricoh Pro C901 production press which it acquired last year.

Imtiyaz Shaikh, director of Dezigner Enterprise, said, “We wanted to offer some unique products to the market. Though we had an option of choosing between the new Xerox Versant and the Canon ImagePress C7011 VP, acquiring any one would eventually lead to producing normal products in this ever growing competitive digital market.” Shaikh reinstated, “With the new Ricoh’s fifth colour option, we plan to go premium.”

Ricoh C7100’s white, the fifth colour, has a shade close to that of silver. According to Shaikh, when printed on a special black or a blue paper, the white colour gives a silverish effect. “This would be ideal for event posters or wedding cards, or even show and event tickets, which cannot be replicated by other print processes,” says Shaikh.

After months of study, anti-counterfeiting and security printing are fields which Dezigner plans to enter into with the new Ricoh machine. Speaking of anti-counterfeiting, the unique thing about the fifth colour according to Shaikh, is that the machine can offer effects like vignettes, screens and dots with high resolutions which will be difficult on any other digital or screen print machine.

The other advantage of this machine is that the manual feeding has been totally eliminated and converted into automatic feeding. “Such a setup has eliminated shifting of paper during printing and improved registration is possible,” adds Shaikh.

Shaikh, a Ricoh loyalist, booked the machine during the Eastern Print Pack 2014 (EPP14) in Kolkata with the Ricoh’s new alternative to click charges under a lifetime warranty plan. Ricoh’s life time warranty plan is offeredin two packs – Ricoh Power Pack and Ricoh Service Pack. Under the Ricoh Power Pack scheme, the customer will get a click charge of less than Rs 0.50 for an A4 print excluding toner.

The Ricoh Service Pack offer customers the option to enter into an AMC for one, three or five years at specified costs for unlimited usage. Saha said that the Ricoh power pack is aimed at jobbers who are facing problems with reconditioned machines, as well as in-plant and offset only

printers.

“The lesser the coverage, the lesser is the toner usage, which results in saving.” She added, “The offset printers are used to this kind of model of buying inks and consumables. With this model, they can build their business while increasing print volumes.”

SPECIFICATIONS
Speed 80ppm/90ppm Duty cycle 600k/700k per month Substrate up to 360GSM and 49.6 inch Banner printing Contact Anjana Saha Ricoh India Anjana.saha@ricoh.co.in +91-9910991477 www.ricoh.co.in

THE ALTERNATIVES
Canon ImagePress C7011VP The USP of the Canon colour digital press includes the superior media handling; with offset-like paper feed mechanism; 12-bit smooth shades with 1200x1200dpi print resolution; air flow unit for better smoothness of halftone images for offset feel print quality, and density stabilisation technology and hygro-thermal sensor for better density consistency. The press offers best in class intelligent registration technology for perfect front and back print registration while the straight paper path results in maximum uptime. The duty cycle of the machine is upto one million prints per month. It has tandem fusing unit for consistent productivity on different thickness of media. Speed 70 A4 ppm, colour/mono Paper size 330x487.7mm Paper gsm 60-325gsm Contact Gurjit Singh Dhingra Canon India gurjit.dhingra@canon.co.in www.canon.co.in

THE ALTERNATIVES

Canon ImagePress C7011VP

The USP of the Canon colour digital press includes the superior media handling; with offset-like paper feed mechanism; 12-bit smooth shades with 1200x1200dpi print resolution; air flow unit for better smoothness of halftone images for offset feel print quality, and density stabilisation technology and hygro-thermal sensor for better density consistency. The press offers best in class intelligent registration technology for perfect front and back print registration while the straight paper path results in maximum uptime. The duty cycle of the machine is upto one million prints per month. It has tandem fusing unit for consistent productivity on different thickness of media.

Speed 70 A4 ppm, colour/mono

Paper size 330x487.7mm

Paper gsm 60-325gsm

Contact Gurjit Singh Dhingra

Canon India

gurjit.dhingra@canon.co.in

www.canon.co.in

Me & My: HP Indigo 7600

PrintWeek India — Wed, 04 Jun 2014 02:00:18

Describe your company.
Capital Photo Books (CPB) a digital print house, owns two HP Indigo 7600 digital printing presses and is a specialist for wedding photo albums. CPB offers a range of customisable options where a customer can personalise the cover and content or even select colours, paper and fabric textures.

What does the machine do?
HP Indigo 7600 prints around 30,000 sheets per day for us without any problem. It’s a powerful workhorse. It produces colourful and beautiful images consistently plus it prints wedding photo books on different kinds of media. The press meets our demand. Its quality production makes us the prefered choice as a digital print firm.

Why did you choose this particular machine?
We wanted to invest in a digital printing press which can produce quality production as well as volume. And since we had heard about the machine, we had started our homework and found it suitable for our needs.

Did you look at any other similar machine?
No, not really. We did not find any better machine in this category as compared to the Indigo 7600.

Why did you make the purchase?
We want to keep ourselves ahead in the market. This press enables us to do so. We have two Indigos.

What features do you particularly like?
Features like higher production speed and less breakdown time. The real advantage it gives us is on features like white inks. We aren’t going out there as pioneers but what we are doing is recognising that this is the best technology.

Is there anything you wish it had that it doesn’t?
Yes, I wish it had an internal Fiery for RIPing.

How fast is it?
It is capable of printing 120 pages per minute. We had printed 50,000 sheets in a day.

How easy is it to use?
It is not difficult to operate by any mean. HP has also provided great help and training.

Has it won you any new work?
Yes, we are able to target the education sector. Today, we we are printing school student photographs up to 400 gsm media. The capability to print on a thick media has won new work for us.

Would you say that it offers value for money?
Yes, it is value for money but not directly. You can charge more for your jobs.

Were there any difficulties experienced during the installation or after?
During the installation, some ups and downs happen but it was a nice experience with the HP team.

What about the pre- and after-sales service?
The HP team has been very supportive from day one. They are improving day-by-day. Most of the time they are just a call away from us.

Who do you think the machine is right for?
Someone looking to invest in digital photo printing business then this is the right production press.

Under what circumstances would you invest in another?
We will be installing the HP Indigo 10000 before the end of the calendar year.

CONCLUSION

User’s verdict
Speed                 5/5
Quality                5/5
Reliability            4/5
Value for money 4/5

Supplier’s Response
A Appadurai, country business manager India and Sri Lanka HP Indigo and Inkjet presses, says, “We are extremely proud to have Capital Photo Books. Jassy Singh is the youngest owner of HP Indigo in India. Their HP Indigo 7600 produces one of the highest page volumes in Asia. They had broken many records last month, by clicking over six million impressions on a single press in a month. They are starting to build a premium category business that uses all the value added features of HP Indigo 7600 like white ink, raised print and embossing. Considering the unlimited possibilities and the market opportunities, they have installed the second HP Indigo 7600 recently.”

Contact HP India
               A Appadurai
              +91 9958880356
              appadurai.a@hp.com

Me & My: Konica Minolta C70hc

PrintWeek India — Wed, 04 Jun 2014 01:19:40

Describe your company..
Industrial Print and Magic is a wedding-album printing facility, which is equipped with a Konica Minolta C70hc. We also have a photography business. And both the businesses complement each other. In one way, you can say that we give entire solution from photography to photo albums. We have specialisation in wedding albums.

What does the machine do?
The press is used for photo printing, primarily. The printing press gives vibrant and detailed prints of the pictures capturing every essence of the photograph.

Why did you choose this particular machine?
We were looking for an affordable suitable digital printing press that would enable us to print photo-albums. Konica Minolta C70hc fulfilled our requirements.

Did you look at any other similar machine?
Yes, we did look for alternatives. But given our budget constraints, there weren’t many options available.

Why did you make the purchase?
We did buy the machine because of four reasons – quality production, a positive feedback from market, economical price, and running cost.

What features do you particularly like?
Its print quality and production speed are two of its best features among others.

Is there anything you wish it had that it doesn’t?
I am sure every machine has room for improvement but we are happy at what we have got at our budget.

How fast is it?
It’s fast enough to fulfil our demands, around 1,500 copies per day.

How easy is it to use?
It’s very easy to operate. Anyone can easily learn to operate it.

Has it won you any new work?
Yes it has won new work for us. Our customers are satisfied with the quality of our work. The word has spread and we have been able to get good business.
How much time or money has it saved?
Earlier we had to outsource our jobs from other printing facilities. Therefore we lost both time and money. Since the installation of the C70hc, we are saving on both – travel time and cost of print. Above all, we are saving money.

Would you say that it offers value for money?
Yes, it is a printing press which provides value for money. We have been able to get a lot of business and the output is exceptionally well.

Were there any difficulties experienced during the installation or after?
No. The entire process was smooth.

What about the pre- and after-sales service?
There were no problems in pre- and after-sale services. The experience with the machine installation is hassle-free.

Who do you think the machine is right for?
The machine is designed to provide excellent print quality. So it is right for those who are in to photo printing.

Under what circumstances would you invest in another?
We are planning to establish photo printing outlets in different parts of the city. This machine will be our first choice.

CONCLUSION

User’s verdict
Speed                 4/5
Quality                5/5
Reliability            5/5
Value for money 4/5

Supplier’s Response
Manish Gupta, senior marketing manager – PP, Konica Minolta India, says, “Konica Minolta’s Bizhub Press C70hc produces rich colour quality that outshines other production printers in the market. With a 71 ppm speed, it is best for graphic professionals and print shops that require higher quality output. C70hc has an option to print in normal and expanded colour gamut closer to sRGB making it suitable for photo printing.”

Contact Konica Minolta Business Solutions India
                Manish Gupta
               +91 9654099413
                manish.gupta@konicaminolta.com

Me & My: Ricoh InfoPrint 4100

PrintWeek India — Wed, 04 Jun 2014 00:41:14

Describe your company.
Datacon is equipped with hardware and software and is housed in a 12,000 sq/ft facility. It has the capacity to produce 50,000 to two million forms in a day (in a 20 hours shift). We provide bar code, variable data printing (VDP), carbonless sets, security documents and OMR/OCR/ICR forms.

What does the machine do?
Right now we are using the machine to print high volume variable data, which has a short TAT (turnaround time). In future, we would like to explore opportunities to cater to the print-on-demand (POD) segment.

Why did you choose this particular machine?
The reliability of the machine to deliver high-volume jobs at high-speed for time critical jobs and also the flexibility to use the same machine for other applications like POD and MICR.

Did you look at any other similar machine?
Yes, we did investigate presses from Nipson, Xerox and Oce.

Why did you make the purchase?
The deal was a value for money. The investment will help Datacon to venture into other opportunities like POD segment. The involvement of Ricoh sales team on each and every step of the entire process made me more comfortable.

What features do you particularly like?
The machine has the capacity to print at a speed up to 100.6 m/min, with 600X600 dpi; and an extra-wide width of 19.5 inch that allows true three-up pages of 6x9-inch. Also the same machine can be upgraded to MICR in future, if required.

Is there anything you wish it had that it doesn’t?
If the finishing option was part of the machine instead of separate solution by Hunkeler/ Lasermark. But I guess all the continuous feed EP machines are designed this way.

How fast is it?
The press can print up to 85.34 m/min. For example, 1,220 impressions per minute of 2-up 8.5x 11-inch.

How easy is it to use?
The user panel is operator-friendly plus operator training has been provided by Ricoh. Their team is always available to assist us whenever we need any support.

Has it won you any new work?
No, not yet. We’re planning to add post-printing equipment. After the addition, we would get new additional volumes.

How much time or money has it saved?
We’re yet to evaluate the same as we have not started full production run on this machine yet.

Would you say that it offers value for money?
The attractive box price offered by Ricoh was indeed much better as compared to quotes received from other vendors.

Were there any difficulties experienced during the installation or after?
There were minor hiccups during the installation but Ricoh engineers who were present, worked overnight.

What about the pre- and after-sales service?
Ricoh’s team is always available whenever we need them.

Who do you think the machine is right for?
For someone who wants to have one machine to print versatile applications like transaction, POD, even MICR with a single-machine, and that too at a high speed.

Under what circumstances would you invest in another?
If the business demands we will go for another machine.

CONCLUSION

User’s verdict
Speed                 4/5
Quality                4/5
Reliability            4/5
Value for money 4/5

Supplier’s Response
Anjana Saha, national business and marketing manager for production printing business unit at Ricoh India Ricoh India, says, “Ricoh IP 4100 has the highest number of installations in India as compared to all other CF EP machines. It can produce images, graphics and text on many types of media at a quality level that is traditionally available only from cut-sheet solutions. In addition Ricoh IP 4100 is one of the fastest EP printers available today. Ricoh IP 4100 also supports MICR toner printing at ultra-high speeds.”

Contact Ricoh India
                Anjana Saha
                +91 99109 91477
                anjana.saha@ricoh.co.in

Me & My: Basysprint UV-setter Series VLF CTCP

PrintWeek India — Tue, 03 Jun 2014 23:24:44

Describe your company.
Vertex Graphics Process is a decade-old, pre-press and signage business house in Rajkot. The company was the first Basysprint UV-setter Series VLF CTCP buyer in South Asia.

What does the platesetter do?
It’s a very large-format (VLF) computer to conventional platesetter and can expose four 4-up plates and two 8-up plates at a time. And as the name suggests, it can expose largest size of plate.

Why did you choose this particular platesetter?
We had Basysprint CtCP already in place but we were looking for a similar kind of system with higher speed and bigger in size. We saw this UV-setter VLF at Drupa 2012 and decided to buy it.

Did you look at any other similar platesetter?
No. We had been using Basysprint for the last four year and this was our only choice.

Why did you make the purchase?
Our main motive was to boost capacity and enhance quality. Basysprint UV-setter Series VLD fulfilled both our requirements. Further the CTCP now comes with a HD DMD technology, enabling a resolution of 2400 dpi and 60% higher speed.

What features do you particularly like?
The machine’s ability to expose multiple plates at the same time. For example, four 4-up plate and two 8-up plates at the same time. Also the plates VLF enables exposing a plate size of 2100x1485mm, which means we can serve any press available.

How fast is it?
We can expose 80 plates of size 28x40-inch in an hour.

How reliable is it?
The new head design and DMD technology is most trusted and reliable.

What’s the quality like?
Our customers have appreciated the quality. We can produce 8-micron spot on plate, which is the best in class.

How much time or money has it saved?
It has increased our production and helped us gain volume. We have doubled production without doubling shift, so we have saved money.

Has it won you any new work?
Yes. Doing VLF makes us the only service provider to provide this size of plates.

Were there any difficulties experienced during the installation or after?
It was the first machine in India and thus it was new for Monotech, too. However, thanks to team Monotech, the machine was installed in 15 days after which we started production.

What about the pre- and after-sale service?
We have been Basysprint users and pre- or after-sales service has never been a issue.

Who do you think the machine is right for?
All big volume plate bureau and obviously for players who have VLF printing machines.

Under what circumstances would you buy another?
If we plan to open another branch in Rajkot.

CONCLUSION

User’s verdict
Speed                 5/5
Quality                5/5
Reliability            5/5
Value for money 5/5

Supplier’s Response
Ajeet Parekh, DGM for sales at Monotech Systems, says, “The large-format, 2400dpi printing quality and high speed offered by the new VLF platesetter provides Vertex Graphics the opportunity to expand its business, while enabling the company to offer its clients much faster turnaround times and higher levels of printing quality.”

Contact Monotech Systems
               Ajeet Parekh
               ajeet@monotech.in
               +91 9212764430