It will be based on a 50cm-wide fixed ink-jet head array capable of printing at least 1m per second.

Before that it will release narrower fixed array digital web presses for the flexible packaging and book-on-demand market, which it will show at the next Drupa.

Development of the BookNet prototype shown at Drupa 2000 is on hold while it works on the business model.

It is focusing on the market for its first-generation industrial printing products, which employ moving print heads.

These are now available commercially and are expected to generate revenue of 10m ($15m) in 2002.

Aprions main focus for the products and at Ipex is the packaging market.

Carmel Container Systems in northern Israel is the firms first corrugated carton beta site. Carmel, which is part owned by Kraft, is using the sheetfed press for short-run corrugated packaging and point-of-sale displays.

Among Aprions developments is a pre-printing coating unit that applies an ink-receptive coating to the material to be printed.

This material is designed to provide the optimum surface tension characteristics for Aprions water-based inks, allowing it to print onto a wide range of standard substrates.

Aprion has also changed its distribution strategy in the packaging sector in Europe. It was originally planning to sell via a distributor, but has now decided to go direct. It will sell the sheetfed press under the name Shaldag, which is Hebrew for kingfisher.

It will sell to the graphic arts market via sister company Scitex Vision, which sells the sheetfed product as the Enjet and the roll-to-roll product as the Superjet. Scitex Vision is using German firm K&L as a beta site.

Story by Barney Cox