It used its Open New Worlds experience day at its Customer Experience Centre (CEC) in Telford to show the machines for the first time. They will become commercially available from January 2017.
Speaking to PrintWeek at the event, Ricoh EMEA product manager Emma Pynaert said the 8200 series is an enhanced version of the 8100 series with some technical modifications. It takes heavier weights, has more media capabilities and can print at faster speeds.
According to Pynaert pricing has yet to be decided but she said prices would not be much higher than the 8100 machines, which start at around £50,000.
There are five models in the series, three with scanners – the 8200s, the 8210s and the 8220s – and two without scanners – the 8210 and the 8220. The 8200s runs at 96ppm; the 8210 and 8210s at 111ppm; and the 8220 and 8220s at 136ppm.
The new machines can print on a wider range of media weights, including textured stock, of 52gsm to 350gsm, and sheet sizes up to SRA3 at a maximum resolution of 1,200x4,800dpi.
A new high-capacity Plockmatic HCI3500 interposer can be attached to the end of the printers, allowing pre-printed covers to be inserted inline prior to binding.
“I think the thing we are really focusing on the most is their productivity – they each have a duty cycle of around a million A4 pages per month, so we see them as reliable, durable devices,” said Ricoh marketing development manager John Blyth.
“We’re not positioning this as a revolution in production or mono printing. It’s building on the success and proven qualities of the 8100 series and enhancing them still further.”
Ricoh also used the day to announce plans for two new direct-to-garment (DTG) printers, after it acquired DTG print manufacturer AnaJet at the beginning of this year.
The R13000 and R16000 DTG printers are likely to launch in the first half of 2017and pricing will potentially start at €15,000 (£12,800).
They have various print table options and run CMYK plus white using water-based pigment ink. The only difference between the two is the number of printheads, the R13000 will have three and the R16000 will have six.
They will be able to print a white garment in around three minutes and a black garment in around five minutes.
Last August, the manufacturer launched its AnaJet mPower mP10i desktop DTG device.
Blyth said that more launches are planned for next year.
Open New Worlds was attended by around 50 people, including a number of Ricoh customers. It is one of a string of Ricoh commercial events that have taken place in the last few weeks.
Wide-format analyst Infotrends director Ralf Schlözer used a presentation at the event to outline opportunities for digital printing outside of commercial. He said that digital printing is no longer a niche process for areas such as book printing.
“The big enabler now, bringing inkjet into different markets, is the print array: shorter runs, faster volume times and more customisation,” said Schlözer.
“Commercial printing is a huge market for digital but it’s going to go flat at best, however there are opportunities in adjacent markets.”
Former England rugby international Mark Cueto also gave a talk on teamwork and marginal gains.
Ricoh’s UK CEC is one of its four global CECs, the other three being in the US, Thailand and Japan. A new "Briefing Centre’" will be added to the Telford CEC early next year.
