Confirming its commitment to the commercial print industry, Epson has announced its ‘Engineered for Print’ strategy and its significant new line-up of digital products and technologies for production and industrial print applications.
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| Mr Minoru Usui, President of Seiko Epson Corporation and Micro Piezo pioneer giving his presentation and also pictured in the inset |
Furthermore, the company has announced its move into the digital dry lab sector, detailing its forthcoming SureLab SL-D3000, for high quality, on-demand photo and card printing, which will be demonstrated for the first time at drupa. Other developments on display at the expo will include next-generation aqueous and dye ink sets to support the range of new products.
When commenting on Epson’s vision for production and industrial printing, Mr Minoru Usui, President of Seiko Epson Corporation and Micro Piezo pioneer said, 'We are confident that our commitment to delivering customer value through unique solutions and outstanding support will help us expand in production and industrial printing. In the next few years, my goal is to double revenue from large format printers, and increase revenue from industrial printing by four times.
'This will be a very big year for us. In fact, I see it as the starting point for the next stage of Epson’s growth.'
drupa 2012 highlights:
Epson’s considerable investment into Micro Piezo and ink technology is driving the company’s development of a rapidly expanding range of professional-level digital solutions for all forms of media. At drupa, Epson will demonstrate products, inks and substrates for design and prepress, large format signage and label printing applications.
Highlights include:
Label converting: Epson has placed a significant focus on developing a range of products to suit the specific requirements of label converters.
For the first time, Epson will demonstrate a completely new line head technology based on Epson’s latest Thin Film Piezo printheads. The new technology will be incorporated into a next-generation press – code named SurePress 'X' – and will be the first Epson product to use LED-curable UV ink.
The SurePress 'X' is designed to deliver rapid printing of both short and mid-run labels and will be compatible with a variety of both paper and film substrates.
Commercial photo printing:
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| The 4-colour SureColor SC-S30600 |
The new 6-colour Epson SureLab SL-D3000 is an easy-to-use digital dry lab for high quality photo prints and cards up to A3 size. It features Epson printheads, new Epson UltraChrome D6 dye ink and image processing technology, and is ideal for on-demand print services in traditional minilab retail environments. Due to its ability to print on to matte surfaces, the SureLab SL-D3000 also offers significant business opportunities for traditional print shop owners, searching for new business possibilities. The SureLab is available in two configurations and will be commercially available from August. (See SureLab launch release for more details).
Textile printing:
Epson’s drive to play a prominent role in the digital textile printing industry is reinforced by the company’s announcement that it has become a 50 percent shareholder in ForTex, a leader in the development of digital textile inks and chemicals.
Design & prepress:
The latest models in the market-leading range of 61cm-163cm (24-64 inch) width aqueous inkjet Epson Stylus Pro printers will demonstrate their considerable flexibility for prepress and in-house agency proofing, short-run display and package prototyping applications.
New ink technology:
Epson has just launched the next generation of odourless and nickel-free UltraChrome GS2 Ink for use in the new SureColor printer for signage applications. As an expansion to its aqueous UltraChrome inks, Epson has leveraged its expertise in fine art and professional printing to develop UltraChrome D6, a unique, six-colour dye ink system for the Surelab digital dry lab. Finally, for the label convertor market, the company will demonstrate its first UV ink for printing to uncoated paper and film label substrates during drupa.
‘Engineered for Print’ principles
Epson’s new production print products and initiatives have been developed in response to feedback from the industry. They form part of Epson’s ‘Engineered for Print’ strategy, in which it commits to offer:
• Performance: highly productive products with key features to help print businesses become more efficient
• Economy: products that are economical in their use of paper, energy and consumables
• Ecology: environmentally-conscious products
• Choice: a wide variety of products, consumables and services, engineered specifically for print businesses
Epson is committed to the long term development of precision imaging technologies. Its established Stylus Pro printer range for photography, fine art and proofing applications has built a 65% market share worldwide.
Epson Australia
www.epson.com.au
