A Jet Press 750S has been installed at Fujifilm’s Advanced Printing Technology Centre near Brussels for just over a week, and a select group of customers and prospective customers have already been to see the new press.
The maximum sheet format is slightly larger, at 750x585mm, and it can handle thicker stock weights up to 600microns.
Another option likely to appeal to packaging printers is the recently-launched water-based food safe ink.
In addition, Fujifilm has simultaneously launched XMF ColorPath Brand Color Optimizer, whereby the entire Pantone library of 1872 colours can be profiled in under an hour for any given substrate. “We print every Pantone colour across three charts, and then measure every patch. It takes less than 45 minutes to produce an optimised colour library,” explained workflow product group manager John Davies.
In the case of the Jet Press, this means the press can match up to 90% of Pantone colours and accomplish ISO 12647-2, ISO 12647-2 plus spot colours, and wide gamut printing.
Brand Color Optimizer also works for other colour libraries, such as HKS or Toyo inks.
The new 750S prints at 3,600sph, which is 33% faster than the 720S, but also has other productivity benefits. Like the 720S it is a simplex device, but the workflow for automated handling of the content for double-sided jobs using barcodes has been improved.
“Productivity does not just mean sheets per hour,” said Taro Aoki, head of digital press solutions for EMEA.
He cited pre-press preparation, press uptime, press speed, and on-the-floor productivity as “the four elements that are most important.”
As well as the speed boost the new 750S uses new Samba printheads from Fujifilm Dimatix that have a higher jetting frequency. Resolution is 1,200x1,200dpi and the VersaDrop jetting technology uses four different drop sizes.
“Because of this the resolution looks so much higher,” explained Mark Stephenson, product manager for digital printing and press systems.
The head cleaning routine is now “simpler and less frequent to increase productivity,” taking three minutes every two hours, rather than hourly procedure on the 720S, and the closed loop quality control system has been simplified.
Machine stoppages and downtime caused by paper jams have been mitigated by a new Active Head Retraction system which automatically moves the printheads out of the way if the press senses a defect in the substrate that could strike the head, without interrupting production.
Stephenson said a new drying system that uses a heated vacuum belt gave the 750S “greater bandwidth for handling more difficult papers, we are still in the process of discovering what it can handle.”
The 750S has a new black livery and a more compact footprint than the existing 720S model, which will continue to be available as a lower-cost option.
Aoki said pricing was from €1.4m (£1.2m). The first installations worldwide will take place in January, at photobook specialist FloriColor in Portugal and high-end print firm Mediadruckwerk in Germany.
Fujifilm now has more than 150 Jet Press installations in the field. Stephenson said users typically reported 90% uptime “which is unheard of in digital” and very high levels of output consistency.
He said the 750S set a new benchmark. “It’s the fastest B2 sheetfed full-colour digital press on the market,” Stephenson stated. “We looked long and hard at spreadsheets and we are well ahead, by around 17%, compared to our closest competitor.
“Momentum is really building now with the Jet Press. It’s still a differentiator. The market is moving from being volume-driven to value-driven.”
