Few companies do open houses and product launches as well as Epson, combining hands-on equipment experiences with fun and entertainment. This week the Japanese piezo inkjet pioneer held its ‘Productivity and Efficiency’ event at Sydney’s chic The Studio in Rosebery, followed by a tour and tastings at Archie Rose’s boutique gin distillery next door.
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| Fill 'n Chill dudes! Shaquille O'Neal is Epson's EcoTank ambassador in the USA. 40+ million sold. |
The venue was the redeveloped Rosella soup factory which closed down in 2013 and is still called ‘The Cannery’ today, with restaurants, wholefood shops, a craft brewery, The Studio and of course Archie Rose's gin distillery.
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| Sales Mgr Bruce Bealby presented |
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Epson Australia MD Craig Heckenberg opens proceedings |
It’s been an amazing ride for Epson over the past 20 years, from the 1999 release of its first 44” wide format printer, the StylusPro 9000, to today’s portfolio that includes aqueous, eco-solvent and sublimation printers, label and point-of-sales printers and high volume digital label production industrial machines, as well as market-leading ultra-bright data projectors. The Seiko-owned company also holds a strong position in consumer and business A4/A3 printers and changed the rules of inkjet when it introduced ‘EcoTank’ fill-yourself printers using bottles rather than cartridges. Forty million EcoTank devices have been sold worldwide, according to presenter Bruce Bealby, Sales Manager with Epson.
Soup and gin aside, it was a great display of Epson’s ever-expanding applications for inkjet and also its data projectors. Visitors got to see the SureColor P9560, Epson’s first-ever 12 colour large-format (44”) printer offering the widest ever colour gamut with up to 99% Pantone coverage when using Epson proofing paper. Available in a proofing configuration with in-built X-Rite SpectroProofer, the new SC-P9560 is also ideal for artists and photographers, or any critical colour applications that call for high-volume production.
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| A beautiful rusty wrap - printed on Epson S80660 |
Also available as a 24” printer (P7560), the 12-colour UltraChrome ‘Pro’ inkset includes CMYK, Orange, Green and Violet and light/vivid magentas, cyans and photo blacks. This delivers an exceptionally wide colour gamut, pure skin tones and superb photo-quality monochromatic images.
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| 12 ink channels! Photo perfection |
Introducing the event, recently appointed Managing Director Craig Heckenberg said:
“The common themes for today’s event are a significant increase in productivity and efficiency in all Epson products across the board. It’s fair to say our products are better than they have ever been on many levels, including being kinder to the environment. You can now print faster, onto more substances and use less ink than ever before. You can also project brighter and bigger for longer at a lower cost and with less effort. In other words you can increase your productivity levels and be more efficient by simply using Epson’s next generation of products.”
In the dye-sublimation printing space Epson showcased two new printers. The first was the 64-inch SureColor F9460H, Epson’s first dye-sublimation, textile printing solution with genuine fluorescent ink, building on the success of the current F-Series and offers customers greater print flexibility. Alongside the SC-F9460H was the new SureColor F560, 24” dye-sublimation printer with integrated bulk ink system designed for textiles, product decoration, small business and fine art/photo dye transfer production.
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| Eco-solvent SC S80660L for films, wraps, signage |
Although there was not room or set-up time at The Studio for the SurePress industrial label presses – the L-4533, L-6034 and new 50 metres/min L-6534; labels were represented by the new ColorWorks C6010 and C6510 benchtop label printers. These on-demand CMYK label printers extend Epson’s existing range to meet the needs of small to medium batch customers across many sectors including food, chemical, beverage, horticulture and logistics. The CW- C6010 can support media widths of 25.4mm to 112 mm and the CW-C6510 from 25.4mm to 215.9mm. In practical terms, these ColorWorks label printers can print anything from tiny labels for eyedropper bottles, to large durable labels suitable for chemical drums.
Sitting in the middle of the displays was a fully-wrapped 1970s Porsche Carrera, with the Avery wrapping printed on Epson’s SureColor S80660L eco-solvent printer with Continuous In Supply System. Made to look aged and rusted, the owner (an Epson employee we hear!) will be relieved to know the Avery wrap film can be peeled off, leaving the paint pristine.
The Epson Productivity & Efficiency event was very well organised and full credit goes to the Epson team and PR whizz Salvatore Di Muccio. Epson's range continues to expand and PrecisionCore wide piezo printhead technology is proving to be a winner. With piezo, no heat is generated and the printheads will usually last the life of the machines - no repetetive printhead changing. Ink usage and cost continues to come down, especially with EcoTank. The final words go to Epson's President, Minoru Usui - there in 'spirit' if not person:
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| Encouraging words from the global President of Epson. |
