Philip Chadwick, PrintWeek

Integrated Graphics director Adrian Hickey says the firm has boosted its turnover ‘dramatically’ since buying this press, finds Philip Chadwick

Describe your business
We are a digital print company in Barry, South Wales.

What does the machine do?
The Konica Minolta bizhub Pro C65hc is a digital press, which incorporates a High Chroma toner that simulates the colour palette of an RGB monitor through CMYK.

Why did you choose this particular machine?
It was all about the quality. We tried a few other machines, but this came out on top. We want to stand out from the crowd and the bizhub Pro has given us an edge in terms of quality. In the past, digital has not had the best quality, but this machine has changed our customers’ minds.

Did you look at any other similar machines?
We did look at similar digital presses from Canon, Xerox and Ricoh and did several tests before deciding to go with the Konica machine.

What features do you particularly like?
The RGB output system is very good indeed. The software is exceptional and the colour controls are very good. It enables us to do variable data work – we are doing a lot of personalised documents. The machine is also able to print on heavier boards.

Is there anything that you wish it had that it doesn’t?
We would like it to go faster, but every printer says that about every press. There isn’t anything additional it needs.

How fast is it?
We run it at 65 A4 pages per minute.

How reliable is it?
It performs well and is very robust.

How easy is it to use?
It is very user-friendly.

How much time or money has it saved?
We can turn work around very quickly and its price has meant that we have saved money.

Has it won you any new work?
It has increased our turnover dramatically. The machine has also enabled us to launch a new website and take orders online. However, this is still in its infancy.

Were there any difficulties experienced during the installation or after?
The installation was easy and took just one day. It was up and running the next day and in the first four days we ran around 10,000 prints.

What about the pre- and after-sale service?
Konica Minolta has really helped us with sales and we have got very good advice.

Who do you think the machine is right for?
The machine would be brilliant for anyone with print runs of up to 3,000 and just over. It would be a very good press for anyone who is in the litho market and is looking to get into digital.

Under what circumstances would you buy another?
We would consider buying another one in the future.

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

Supplier’s response
Mike Hiscox, production print division sales specialist at Konica Minolta, says: Integrated Graphics has shown that the bizhub Pro C65 is not a machine that is simply for niche markets. The company has been able to sell it to the commercial market and its customers have been blown away by the quality. It is very durable and is an all-metal machine. It can run on litho stocks and is a complement to offset.

Philip Chadwick, PrintWeek, 27 March 2009

HP’s latest press, the Indigo 7000, takes one step closer to narrowing the technology gap between digital and litho, discovers Philip Chadwick.

While there is still a place for both digital and litho print technologies, the gap between the two is closing. The level of quality offered by digital presses has come on in leaps and bounds over recent years. At Drupa 2008, the digital presses on display were more robust and more industrial – in simple terms, more like litho. That’s certainly the view of HP; it believes that its latest challenger to the commercial market, the HP Indigo 7000, is well placed to take digital to the next level in terms of quality and viability.

“We are close to a tipping point, where digital print is going to truly explode,” explains Robert Stabler, head of HP’s Indigo digital business for the UK and Ireland. “I think there are a lot of reasons to be bullish about the growth of digital. People are starting to think the unthinkable.”

The 7000 is one of HP’s flagship digital presses and is the next step up from the 5500 machine. While it doesn’t venture into any uncharted waters, it can serve a wide range of different applications from direct mail and photobooks, through to greetings cards and calendars. It sits nicely in the general commercial print market, which is why HP selected Precision Print to put the 7000 through its paces before it went to market. The Barking-based company is a long-standing HP customer and already had a 5000 in place.

Environmental benefits
“On the 7000 we found that the run length can be broadened and we are able to move more work from litho,” explains Gary Peeling, Precision Print managing director. “It means that we can make great strides in waste reduction – we use less material and that helps underpin our clients’ environmental programmes.”

The manufacturer is keen to flag up the environmental benefits of the 7000. HP says that the press offers an oil recycling system, lower electricity consumption, the ability to print on recycled paper and that its consumables last longer, resulting in reduced waste. Then there is what the digital market believes to be the environmental trump card: the ability to print the precise quantity required.

“People go for shorter run lengths because of the economics, adds Peeling. Digital printing allows them to have what they need, when they need it. It also allows us to use a different solution when dealing with the environment.”

Colour considerations
With the reduction of waste at the heart of this machine, even the design of the ink cans has been taken into consideration. The cans for the 7000 are much bigger than those for the 5500, which means that they don’t have to be changed as often, and can also be replaced on the fly.

With colour in the corporate world so important, according to HP, the inks for the 7000 provide a far wider colour gamut with four-, six- or seven-colour Pantone emulation, including Pantone Goe and off-press mixing of spot colours, which can be achieved with HP Indigo’s Ink Mixing System. As a result, the 7000 can match up to 97% of Pantone colours.

Other areas in which Precision says the 7000 scores highly include the speed of the machine and the workflow. The 7000 has been upped to a speed of 120ppm in four-colour mode and 240ppm in mono or two-colour mode.

On the front-end, HP has developed a scalable SmartStream print server offering a remote user interface, better variable-data printing attributes and an expandable RIP capacity. “It means you can control multiple presses from one digital front end,” adds HP’s Stabler.

By separating the RIP from the press, HP has developed a scalable workflow that can handle huge volumes of variable data. Customers can choose from three print servers from the SmartStream family to drive the press via the PrintLink protocol, which separates the pre-press tasks from the printing. According to HP, this allows press operators to concentrate on printing operations, thus maximising pressroom productivity. The three SmartStream products best suited for the 7000 are Production Pro, Production Plus powered by Creo, and Ultra. Also incorporated into the 7000 is the HP Indigo Print Care toolset, which offers on-press and off-press diagnostics and troubleshooting tools.

The 7000 can handle media weight of 80-350gsm for coated paper, while for uncoated it can handle 60-350gsm. Media thickness ranges from 70-400 microns. There are three 1,800 sheet capacity trays and there is an option for an extra 700 sheet tray. Media size is pitched at 330.2x482mm, while image size is at 317x464mm.

The ‘wow’ factor
It all adds up to a heavier-duty machine compared with the 5500. While the company isn’t making any claims that it’s the beginning of the end of litho, there is a feeling within HP that with the 7000, it can certainly bridge the gap a little better.

“The B1 market is still best suited to longer runs but there is now a middle ground where you can go one way or the other – the market has polarised,” says Stabler. “Run lengths are coming down and it is more efficient to opt for digital than a small litho press. This press goes up to SRA3 paper size and prints to a litho quality – ideal for customers working on high-quality applications.”

In addition, the 7000 is expected to exploit markets that are well suited to digital. Highly personalised direct mail has long been the mainstay of the digital market, but there are others sectors in which the technology seems to be finding favour, with the aforementioned photobooks, personalised calendars and greetings cards all benefiting from the combination of advanced variable-data and web-to-print systems.

“Applications like that still have a ‘wow’ factor,” adds Stabler. “It has grown over the last three years. People are now more aware that they can create their own photobooks or cards – my expectation is that the market will grow at an accelerated rate.”

On top of that, the 7000 may find additional applications in the on-demand books and magazine markets. The latter, in particular, might be considered uncharted territory for digital, but Stabler believes that there is a market with magazines of run lengths of 7,000 or less.

“If you look at specific applications, it makes sense to go digital,” adds Stabler. “The technology is very reliable, the economics have improved and the quality is very good. Also, this is a segment that is not commoditised.”

It’s a clear sign that digital print technology is approaching maturity with litho manufacturers scrutinising the latest developments with interest.

The 7000 is not the only heavy duty, industrial digital press in HP’s arsenal. However, it does give the manufacturer more confidence when going up against not only the giants of the digital sector but the previously untouchable litho market. That tipping point could be just around the corner.

SPECIFICATIONS
Max speed 120 A4 ppm
Average monthly page volume 3.5m
Max sheet size 330.2×482.6mm
Front end HP SmartStream Production Pro Print, Production Plus Print and Ultra Print
Price From £425,000
Contact HP 08452 704000 www.hp.com

XEROX iGEN 4
Xerox claims that its new flagship press has increased productivity by 25-35% through cutting downtime. Auto Density Control uses a high-resolution sensor to read colour patches on the imaging belt and the optional 364x571mm sheet is the biggest of any cut-sheet toner machine available on the market.

Max speed 110 A4 ppm
Average monthly page volumes 3.5m
Max sheet size 364x521mm (364x571mm sheet optional)
Front-end Xerox Freeflow, Creo, EFI Fiery
Price £380,000 including the engine and workflow
Contact Xerox 0870 873 4519 www.xerox.com

KODAK NEXPRESS S3000
Although Kodak unveiled the faster 120ppm S3600 press at Drupa last year, the 100ppm S3000 is the manufacturer’s main challenger to the iGen4 and the 7000. The NexPress has an optional fifth unit, which can be used for special colours and coating, including high-gloss flood coating.

Max speed 100 A4 ppm
Average monthly page volumes 2.2m
Max sheet size 520x356mm
Front-end V, Vcs, Vp
Price £299,000
Contact Kodak UK 020 8424 6514 www.graphics1.kodak.com