By Sander Sondaal, Director Commercial Print Sales, Ricoh Graphic Communications, Ricoh Europe
Production agility and versatility have become essential cornerstones for responsive Print Service Providers (PSPs). The ability to quickly, and smoothly, manage a wide range of jobs, with individual requirements and customised elements, is what enables successful PSPs to handle today’s greater demand for short run fast turnaround, personalised jobs.
It is driving the transition from offset to digital print as Julio Vial, research manager, IDC IPDS Group, commented following the publishing of the IDC Market Forecast. It examined the Western European continuous feed production printer systems market for 2022 to 2026 and featured vendor data from Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Switzerland, Austria, Spain, Portugal, Greece, and Ireland. He said: “Page volume is expected to grow among high speed inkjet devices as volumes are transferred from offset class devices and existing digital print migration.”
Central to this is the continuing evolution of web fed inkjet technology that is delivering an ever increasing range of applications and run lengths. This has grown with improvements in every production step, from job acceptance, to processing, and completion.
Important too is how the systems enable production printing businesses to manage today’s challenging economic and operational pressures in the following five ways:
Simplifying production – the addition of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) simplifies operation and provides greater feedback for more effective decision making.
Production automation tools and business intelligence – these capabilities allow smarter working.
Supporting productivity – at a time when global shortages are impacting substrate choice, undercoating creates a standardised print surface to ensure outstanding results on an even wider range of media for expanded production possibilities.
Enhancing quality – undercoating technology also ensures high quality results and broadens the range of applications that are suitable for inkjet by further improving overall print quality with sharper detail and more vibrant colours.
Aiding the migration of production from analogue to digital platforms – easy to integrate inkjet continuous feed solutions help operations smoothly transition work.
Ricoh will showcase its latest technology solutions developed to deliver greater short run application flexibility at Hunkeler Innovationdays. Among them will be the Ricoh Pro™ VC70000e high speed inkjet press which will be on show publicly for the first time anywhere in the world. Flexible and responsive mono high speed inkjet production will be demonstrated by the compact Ricoh Pro™ V20100 that enables commercial printers and book printers to profitably produce a wide range of applications. Ricoh will also present a number of software solutions that efficiently manage workflow and streamline production.
But it is not just systems and solutions that will be presented at Hunkeler. Ricoh will also show how it continues to support clients as they grow their high speed inkjet capabilities with expert advice offered through Ricoh’s EDGE business development consultancy. It provides printers with essential tools and training to develop effective business and marketing plans, secure new business opportunities, and achieve a return on their investment with Ricoh.
www.ricoh-europe.com
