Esser printSolutions has expanded its product portfolio in inkjet sheetfed printing with the new varioPRINT iX from Canon, thus securing new sales opportunities in the future. The family-owned company in southern Germany was one of the first in its sector to opt for a Canon inkjet sheetfed press.
The challenge
Esser printSolutions, now in its fourth generation, has been successful in the market and has pursued a clear course of expansion in the digital printing sector in recent years. The company now employs 140 people at two locations and offers the full range of print products. "Since we specialise exclusively in digital printing and new demands are constantly coming our way, especially for short and medium runs, we strive to use the technologically leading printing systems in each case," says authorised signatory Diana Esser. Only a few years ago, for example, the company entered the inkjet sheetfed market with Canon's VarioPrint i300, which opened up new sales areas. An inkjet web press and various toner-based digital printing systems are also in use at Esser printSolutions. Customer companies benefit from the direct connection of their online shops to the largely automated production of the print service provider. "Our customers are always interested in new solutions and products. Especially in the area of glossy coated image printing papers we have seen a strong demand over the years, which we wanted to cover with a follow-up system for the VarioPrint i300," describes Diana Esser.
Solution
"The joint path with Canon has been successful in every respect so far, and when Canon introduced a further development with the iX model, our decision to switch to the new system generation was made very quickly," says Diana Esser. New features include the water-based polymer pigment inks and the increased print resolution of 1200 dpi. "We first looked at corresponding print samples on different media, such as glossy image printing papers, and were immediately convinced by the very good print image quality," Diana Esser describes. The varioPRINT iX also processes coated offset papers with grammages from 90 to 350 g/m² and uncoated papers from 60 to 350 g/m². The innovative drying system works so efficiently that even higher grammages are available for finishing immediately after printing. "Productivity is also impressively high, as defective sheets are automatically detected and ejected. This saves time when jobs are tightly scheduled," says the authorised signatory. With the control environment also implemented at Esser printSolutions, based on the PRISMAproduction server and the PRISMASync controller, the print jobs are flexibly distributed to all the Canon digital printing systems used in the company.
Benefit
"The varioPRINT iX is highly flexible in use because it enables us to process many substrates of different grammages. Compared to the VarioPrint i300, which we replaced with the new system, we believe Canon has succeeded in developing this new generation of inkjet sheetfed printing further in every respect. This applies equally to print quality, thanks to an even better resolution, and to cost-effectiveness," says Diana Esser. For numerous end products such as commercial work, training materials and colour operating manuals, the combination of the economical inkjet process paired with improved inks and the flexible use of sheetfed paper is optimal in Diana Esser's view. "This also helps us in times when general circumstances have upset the ability to plan the purchase of raw materials," she emphasises. Another advantage in everyday production: the varioPRINT iX is easy to operate. It also offers a high print speed of 320 A4 pages per minute and processes sheets up to 350 x 508 mm format - parameters that pay off for Esser printSolutions in day-to-day operations. "In addition, the technical quality is very good, just as with the predecessor system. We have only a few maintenance calls and can continue to rely on Canon's usual fast and very good service," says a satisfied Diana Esser.
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