Mercury Print Productions in Rochester, New York had wanted to expand its high-volume digital printing capacity and plans to use the new machine for a wide range of print jobs, including educational, trade and children’s books, personalised direct mail, marketing collateral, and transactional documents as well as short to medium-run packaging requiring variable print.
Mercury has been a user of Kodak Prosper technology since 2011, printing up to 10 million pages per day.
John Place, CEO of Mercury Print Productions, said: “Our primary goal with this investment is to enhance our production capabilities, improve efficiency, and offer our customers a broader range of printing options.
“We aim to provide faster turnaround times, greater substrate flexibility and capabilities, and consistent print quality across various substrates.
“We needed another press as we have experienced a significant increase in demand for digitally printed products as our customers continue to look for solutions that offer offset quality while allowing for the flexibility that inkjet provides. It enables our customers to order what they need, when they need it.”
Mercury president Christian Schamberger added: “Our experience with Kodak’s technology has been highly satisfactory. Kodak has a reputation for delivering reliable and innovative printing solutions, and we have a strong working relationship with their service and support teams.
“The Prosper 7000 Turbo Press stood out for its exceptional speed, high-resolution capabilities, and versatile substrate compatibility. It aligns perfectly with our commitment to providing our customers with the best possible print quality and options.
“What’s more, Kodak’s commitment to continuous improvement and investment in inkjet technology aligns with our long-term growth strategy.”
Using Kodak Stream Inkjet Technology and Ektacolor inks, the Prosper 7000 Turbo Press is designed for monthly print volumes of up to 239 million A4 pages, offers printing speeds of up to 410m/min, and a throughput of up to 5,523 A4ppm.
It has three optimised print modes – Quality, Performance, and Turbo – which are said to allow easy adjustment of print speed and quality to the requirements of each job to ensure maximum production efficiency.
The machine supports a maximum web width of 648mm (25.5 inches) with a variable cutoff length up to 1,372mm (54 inches) while printing on a wide range of coated and uncoated stocks, newsprint, and specialty and recycled papers. It can handle paper stocks ranging from 42–270gsm.
The machine was installed in July and was set to increase Mercury’s inkjet capacity by around 40-50%.
“We thank our long-standing customer Mercury Print Productions for their continued confidence in Kodak’s technology and our commitment to innovation,” said Jim Continenza, executive chairman and CEO of Kodak.
“With this latest investment, Mercury takes a major leap forward in digital capacity, production versatility and business opportunities.
“The Prosper 7000 Turbo Press, with its unmatched speed and incredible application range, enables users in wide areas of the commercial and publishing printing markets to print a wide variety of jobs more productively and profitably than ever before.”
