Rapid was one of US-based Memjet's original OEM partners and the first to exhibit a Memjet-powered label printer in the form of the Rapid X1 at Ipex 2010.
It has since manufactured and sold more than 250 Memjet-powered label presses, including the Rapid X1, Rapid X2 and its latest model the Rapid XL220.
Memjet has declined to reveal the reason for terminating the OEM partnership, citing confidentiality, while Rapid founder Bruce Mansell told Australian print publication Print21 that it had received no "legitimate reason" for the termination.
Mansell said there were no outstanding commercial liabilities between the two companies, adding: "We have been paying in advance for print engines, heads and inks. We have not been given any legitimate reason why Memjet is cutting us off after years of pioneering work deploying their technology in the digital printing sector."
Memjet has handed the licence to supply Memjet ink cartridges to Rapid's install base to RTI Digital, whose president Erik Norman said: "RTI will be supplying the Rapid ink tanks to the current Rapid distribution partners.
"RTI's interest and objective is in keeping the Rapid customers happy and to ensure they can keep running the Rapid presses with minimal disruption, and that includes supply pricing continuity. We have already reached a continuity plan with international distributors."
Writing for Print21, industry consultant Andy McCourt speculated that the breakdown in Memjet and Rapid's relationship could be tied to ink prices, stating that Rapid had absorded three Memjet ink price rises in the past two years and that "[Memjet] wants over A$1,000 per litre - double what Rapid thinks is the maximum the market would bear".
In response, Memjet general manager of Office and Desktop Systems, Kim Beswick told PrintWeek: "Our pricing to OEMs supports a range of OEM pricing strategies including Rapid’s aggressive $500/litre, and still does.
"Moving to $1000/litre might drive up OEM margin or channel margin but would make no difference to Memjet as a technology supplier. Our pricing has changed little and is a fraction of the total price – whether we are talking about $500 or $1,000/litre.
"We have partners selling directly and through channels. We have partners selling at prices that drive growth/placements and others selling more value. Each device is different, each OEM is different, each market and channel is different. OEM’s price as they see fit and generally have a CPP [cost per page] advantage vs. competition. Regardless, Memjet pricing is sufficient to drive profitability across a range of pricing strategies."
Mason Daniel, global sales manager for Rapid's UK distributor Impression Technology Europe (ITE) said: "We've been working very hard behind the scenes at ITE to make sure there is no disruption to our customers and that it will be a very smooth transition.
"All our customers that have Rapid machines can have every confidence in the supply of not only existing products but also for future innovative products. The supply chain won't be disrupted in any way, in fact our customers won't notice a difference."
