Ricoh Australia has launched Ricoh MediaMax locally, a customisation option that enables the Ricoh Pro C9500 digital colour sheetfed press to print on a wider range of Ricoh-approved media, now able to accommodate thicknesses of up to 800 microns and weights of up to 600gsm.
Henryk Kraszewski, Product Marketing Manager, Ricoh Graphic Communications, Ricoh Australia, says: “Ricoh MediaMax opens the door to new application opportunities that were previously impossible to produce on digital presses.”
“Crucially, its unique technology enables our clients to add high value, high margin, short run, data driven applications.”
Developed with the intention to disrupt traditional production models and deliver environmentally responsible alternatives to single-use plastic cards, Ricoh MediaMax will essentially enable users to enter new markets for high-value, high-margin paperboard applications such as gift cards, business cards, POS displays, short-run packaging, luxury direct mail, and book covers.
Kraszewski also points to some examples of how Ricoh MediaMax has already been used by early adopters in Europe.
ADC Plasticard, an Irish specialist manufacturer of plastic and eco-friendly cards, has been able to use Ricoh MediaMax to eliminate offline gluing to reduce waste and improve efficiency, as well as achieving enhanced durability and finish for premium paperboard products.
While Latcham, a leading UK direct mail and personalised communications provider that specialises in membership services, including renewal letters and attached membership cards, is now producing approximately 150,000 paperboard cards per month. It has actively transitioned most of its clients from PVC to paperboard cards, reducing carbon footprint by 91%, while insourcing production and improving margins.
Graham Lycett, founder and managing director of Green Gift Cards, Cards Unlimited, says: “Ricoh MediaMax has completely changed how we produce card-based applications. Being able to print the artwork and variable data in a single digital process removes an entire production step that used to sit on a separate line. That frictionless, single pass workflow has significantly reduced lead times, cut waste, and helped us get to market much faster.”
“By extending the same process to complementary packaging and POS, we’ve streamlined production end-to-end and dramatically reduced our carbon footprint from around 50 grams of CO₂ per card to less than five grams, while improving efficiency and margins.”
RIcoh MediaMax is now available in Australia for the Pro C9500 digital colour sheetfed press and can also be retrofitted to existing Pro C9500 systems.The RICOH Pro C9500 is currently the only digital dry toner press on the market to offer this extended media capability.
