Page 31 - Print 21 Magazine Sep-Oct 2018

Japan technology
Tetsuya-san leads Ricoh print revolution
Ricoh: Tetsuya-san leading the Ricoh revolution.
One of the major strengths of Japanese technology companies is that they don’t rely entirely on the printing industry to survive and thrive. With many interests and diverse development agendas, the printing component of their business, while often very important, is not make or break. Ricoh is a fine example of how maintaining a wide spectrum of products gives room to move.
My first scheduled appointment at IGAS on Wednesday morning was with Tetsuya Morita, vice president commercial & industrial printing, Ricoh. He came surrounded by an efficient team
of assistants and public relation personnel. Sitting face-to-face
he explained how the company’s ambitious growth strategy has
to do with revolutionising a wide spectrum of manufacturing by developing printing technology.
This means moving from printing
on paper, to ‘display’ printing on non-paper media such as film,
food and textiles, to creating
news technologies for printing electronics, 3-D (additive) printing and bioprinting (cell lamination).
I hadn’t realised the depth of experience in Ricoh, or the amount of technology collateral it has invented and accumulated over the years. On a tour of the considerable stand it became obvious that Ricoh is a Japanese technology leader
Proof of expertise at Screen
Few companies have such a huge unrealised presence in the printing industry than Screen. Manufacturing perhaps the widest range of OEM equipment Screen is the unrecognised giant of digital printing.
Just next door in the cavernous Big Sight
trade halls, Screen, another iconic Japanese manufacturer had a very busy stand. Based in
the imperial city of Kyoto it has successfully reinvented itself as the market for its emblematic platemaking technology dwindled and almost
died. But Screen is one of the few in the world still manufacturing CTP machines and lo and behold, there’s a new version released at this IGAS. A stripped-down unit aimed at the replacement market in developing countries, the PlateRite 8600NII can be upgraded with all the latest technology. As with much of Screen’s well-regarded technology, it’s widely rebadged and OEM’d.
If you think a new CTP verges on the anachronistic, I was astounded to see a new proofing press on the stand, the Proof Jet F780 Mark ll. Who’d have thought sections of the Japanese media and advertising industry still insist on a proof from a proofing press? However, don’t let me give you the impression that Screen is caught in a weird time warp. Most of its stand was a model display of high-powered digital printing with two versions of the high-speed Truepress Jet, one for direct marketing production, the other for graphic arts; very impressive results. No sign yet of a cut sheet version.
Fascinated to see the developments of Screen’s label press, with a new version for the show,
the TruePress L350UV+LM. The LM stands for low-migration; an ink set aiming to avoid any challenges to its suitability for labels on food products. Next to it was an Italian laser die cutter, a Cartes GE361L producing the best results from the technology I’ve seen. 21
intent of leveraging its position
to gain greater prominence in the industry. Centrepiece of the stand is the VC60000, a high-speed duplex inkjet that has
as good a repro
as any I’ve
seen. Another
version, the
VC70000, is
about to be
launched with
a new ink set
and a top-secret
drying system.
This style of
digital press is a little high-end for our local industry so I’m not sure when we’ll see one.
“Centrepiece
of the stand is the VC60000, a high- speed duplex inkjet that has as good
a repro as any
I’ve seen.”
Apart from the well-known production print work horses
of the brand, the Pro C7210s up to the ProC9200 for commercial printing, more likely for our market is the new hugely productive wide-format flatbed, the Pro T7210, outputting at over 50 square metres an hour, double that of its nearest rival says Ricoh.
Above: Screen: Label specialist, Taishi Motosige, (left) showed me around the Screen stand and introduced me to Ayaka Sasaki who looks after the CTP.
Print21 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2018 31