Ryuta Masui is senior vice-president at Fujifilm. He's been with the company for more than 25 years and held senior roles in most of its business segments. So there are few people better placed to give an overview of the firm's future direction.
How has the show been so far?
It's been fantastic and the Jet Press especially has really drawn the crowds - the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. I think the industry has definitely turned a corner, we've hit the bottom and we're now on the way up. Sales year-on-year have increased too, which is a good sign and reflects that general state of the industry.
Do you think the recession has accelerated the structural change in the industry?
I think so. Recessions are always painful, but they focus the industry's mind on the future and that's not always a bad thing as it forces them to think about strategy.
You mentioned the Jet Press 720, your B2 sheetfed inkjet; obviously that has generated a lot of interest, but the business model against litho has been questioned by some rivals - will the numbers stack up?
At this stage we're targeting it at short-run rather than variable printing that's true, but I'm not sure why the model is being questioned, as we haven't actually released any information yet. We will be unveiling that information in the next six to nine months, but just to give you an example, 1,500 copies of a 16pp page brochure will be more costeffective on a Jet Press than conventional litho.
When will the machine and the pricing structure be available?
In Europe, early next year. In Japan, we will start installing machines in beta sites in the next few months.
Are you considering developing a B1 machine?
Obviously we would not develop this platform for just one product.
The Samba technology is transferable and there are many applications we are looking at developing to expand the Jet Press family. That could also be in high-speed inkjet web - anything is possible. There will be new digital products announced in the coming months.
You're very active in sectors such as inkjet and wide-format, but your plate business still generates more than half of your revenue, is there a danger of losing focus on that segment?
Of course the plate business is massively important to us, but we don't think we can ignore the importance of digital printing. If you look at some of the environmental developments we've made in plates, I don't think we could be accused of neglecting that sector.
So you don't think that digital will kill offset then?
No, they're complementary technologies. The key is to use the right technology for the right application and that's where our intimate understanding of both has value.
