Featuring a 14pl drop size and 400sqm/hr maximum print speed, the Onset R40i is Inca's new mid-range model, fitting between the high-quality Q40i, with its 9pl drop and 305sqm/hr print speed, and the Onset S40i, which has a 27pl drop and 560sqm/hr output.
Tudor Morgan, systems marketing manager, Fujifilm Speciality Ink Systems, said: "There is a drive in the marketplace to a smaller drop and finer quality [but] when you also need to be able to print lots of print to make these high-end machines economical or, be printing for a niche where you can get a much higher selling price for the print.
"We've looked at that and we've had many customers over the last year since launching the Q40i come to either us or Inca and say the quality is exceptional but that the speed was a little low compared to the S40i and we've been trying to bridge that gap.
"With the R40i, unless you've been in the industry for 30 years and you get your linen tester out, I can't see a difference between the quality - on paper, on board, on corex - between the R and the Q but what I do see is a 100sqm/hr improvement in speed."
Morgan added: "We don't want to replace the Q40i because when you're into that fine art detail it's still the best machine, but for the majority of people in the European market this gives you that extra bit of speed and makes the economics work.
The Inca Onset R40i uses Fujifilm's Dimatix Spectra printheads and Uvijet inks and is based on the same upgradable Onset Scalable Architecture platform as the Onset S50i, which was launched at Fespa 2013.
Since its launch, all Onset presses have been built on this platform, meaning they all have the same 3.14x1.6m flatbed, the same eight ink channels, and the same electronics. This enables any Onset machine to be upgraded to a different configuration.
The Onset R40i has a basic four-colour configuration, which customers can upgrade to include light colours (LcLm), white (using two channels), or both for the maximum seven-colour configuration
Morgan said that a six-colour Onset R40i with 3/4 automated media handling and a spares kit would cost around €1m (approx £815,000) and that there was only a marginal difference in price of "£5,000 or £6,000" between the Q40i, the R40i and the S40i.
Another new product that will be demonstrated at Fespa is a fully-automated media handling system for graphic display materials (Inca already had a system for handling corrugated stacks) based on a Hostert automated feeder and alignment table and Inca's proprietary material loader and take-off system.
