Page 36 - Print 21 Magazine Sep-Oct 2020

Inkjet Flatbed
Fabulous flatbed
Flatbed inkjet print output has been all over the place as Covid has wreaked havoc on the economy. What hasn’t changed is its remarkable versatility, reports Wayne Robinson.
Some manufacturers will provide
a whole digital ecosystem. Durst, for instance, has its P5, which, in line with Durst’s own pixel-to-output strategy, has the printing system supplied with workflow software for print preparation and analytics software for processing real production parameters. The P5 is designed to increase speed, productivity, and versatility by looking at the whole workflow from receipt of file to delivery.
Flatbed inkjet printing is becoming highly competitive, and with serious new players coming into the market all the time. Just this year has seen heavyweight developers Roland DG and Ricoh come in with flatbed print systems. Printers that want to create a successful flatbed inkjet printing operation need to consider the whole workflow, as well as the potential markets, in order to ensure they are competitive.
Speed is reaching new heights. The Inca Onset S40i can knock out a sizzling 560sqm an hour. The newly introduced Ricoh and Roland DG flatbeds, which come in at the other end of the price scale, can operate at speeds of up to 50sqm an hour. You get what you pay for, and for printers looking to enter the flatbed market the investment level for a 50sqm-an- hour printer will be more palatable than a 560sqm-an-hour printer.
Australian and New Zealand print business can choose from a dazzling array of flatbed UV print systems. Agfa, Canon, Durst, EFI, Fujifilm, HP (this is latex), Inca, Mimaki, Mutoh, Ricoh, Roland DG and swissQprint are among those on the market. They are all supported by first-rate service organisations, whether directly owned by the manufacturer – such as Durst Oceania – or through a dealer – such as Starleaton, which supplies the EFI range. 21
While print used to be thought of in terms of putting ink on paper, the arrival
of UV printing changed all that, particularly in the
case of UV inkjet on flatbed print systems.
The key is in the print process. UV does not dry onto substrates, it polymerises. That is, it changes its nature, so it can both dry instantly and adhere to a mind-boggling array of substrates, from paper and board, to metal and plastics, wood and acrylic, stone and textile – pretty much anything that you can put onto a flatbed print system. With beds commonly available in 3.2m or 5m widths, that is a whole world of applications.
Until a couple of years ago, UV printers used a mercury lamp for the polymerisation process. Today it is LED UV, which has the major benefits of using less power, and it doesn’t heat the substrate, so it doesn’t cause any issues with warping, and the lamps last far longer, and they don’t degrade along the way.
LEDs – light emitting diodes– are common across many industries now, including printing, with the latest generation of offset presses having the option to use them. And for wide format they were the final piece in the puzzle of switching what was screen printing to digital.
While screen is still used for
very long runs, they are few and far between. Visit any ANZ large-format flatbed shop and you are likely to see a screen machine gathering dust in the corner.
That, of course, is a function of the diminishing run lengths required, plus the speed and flexibility of the flatbed UV printers. Being digital, flatbed UV printers can print a different image on every sheet.
More advanced print houses, such as Active Display Print in Melbourne, are now using robots to load and onload to the bed. Robots do not suffer backache, nor do they take holidays, breaks, or sick days.
“Digital flatbed inkjet systems though are not just a modern way of producing print that was previously produced manually, digital opens up a whole world of possibility in production efficiencies, through digital connection.”
Digital flatbed inkjet systems
are not just a modern way of producing print that was previously produced manually. Digital
opens up a world of possibility in production efficiencies through digital connection. Many of the new flatbed inkjet print systems on the market can connect to the cloud. This connection enables managers to check on production any time from any place. Digital flatbed inkjet systems can also be cloud-connected back to the manufacturer for instant diagnosis and appraisal. They can take digital job bags with the digital file in it and print virtually lights out, or black, as it is known, with robots loading and unloading the substrates. You can even check on progress via a webcam.
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Fabulous: Flatbed inkjet
36 Print21 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020