It has also announced that it will launch two flatbed machines, with existing partner Sericol, for the point of sale market at the show, a bigger faster version of its Columbia and a new smaller, higher print quality and lower cost machine called the Spyder.

Inca will at last achieve its original aim of producing a printer for packaging, said marketing director Heather Kendle. Its a huge leap forward for ink-jet, we believe it will be one of the most interesting products of 2004.

The machine has a print width of 520mm and a resolution of 300dpi and will produce 3,000m2 of print per hour in CMYK. Unlike the firms flatbed machines it features a static array of print heads to provide single-pass printing.

In its current configuration the machines quality is claimed by Inca to match halftone flexo. It will be competitive with flexo on runs up to 5,000 sheets according to Kendle.

The firm has plans to develop the machine in the future with wider widths, higher quality and additional colours, including solid whites and varnishes.

Corrugated materials will also be served by a new turbocharged version of its top of the range flatbed machine the Columbia. The new version will be faster, although the exact speed was not given.

Columbia is already the fastest flatbed by far. Its three times faster than its nearest rival, said managing director Bill Baxter. Our customers get paid by volume and what they want is more square metres per hour.

Baxter also said the machine would push the economic crossover point between digital and screen printing for POS from 150 sheets with the Inca Eagle to 225 sheets. It will also handle a bigger sheet size up to 2.2x3.2m from 1.6x3.2m.

The Spyder, which will cost around two thirds the price of its Eagle, has a maximum print size of 1x1.5m and a resolution of up to 1,000dpi.

What makes the Spyder different is print quality, said Baxter. Its unmatched by any UV digital printer, which is no accident. Its based on technology weve been developing for several years.

Unlike its bigger brothers the Spyder keeps the printed sheet static and moves the print heads in a carriage over the sheet.

by Barney Cox