However, that misses the point about the Gamma 70 – which the firm also showed at LabelExpo, even though its primary market isn’t labelling – and Fespa. It’s easy to be confused if you take a blinkered view of the market when considering this narrow-format machine.

Just as much as Fespa is about wide-format it is also, given its roots in screen printing, about decoration and industrial printing and those markets, just like the rest of print, are moving to digital techniques to meet customer demands for reduced waste, shorter run lengths and personalisation.

Coding giant
Established for more than 50 years, Atlantic Zeiser is a stalwart in coding and marking, having started out making impact numbering machines. Coding and marking continue to make up a core part of the firm’s business, being one of its three divisions. That particular division supplies 95% of the world’s banknote numbering machines and also provides the equipment to number passports. In addition, the company has a card systems operation, which produces gift card, ID card and credit-card machinery, that can print (in full-colour if wanted) as well as apply RFID tags and other security features. It was the demand for high-quality colour printing on to cards that, to some extent, spawned the development of the Gamma.

Back in 2000, the firm approached Versamark (now part of Kodak) to develop drop-on-demand (DOD) inkjet printing systems. In 2004, the firm followed up with its first self-developed DOD devices, the Omega range, a binary spot-colour system for packaging and industrial use. That was followed by the Delta, a much higher speed (300m/m) system for commercial print. And now the firm has gone further still with the Gamma, which is intended to be used in three sectors: labels, industrial printing and packaging.

Of the three markets, the firm is focusing most on the latter two. "Labelling is a big market, but our company focus is industrial print and packaging," says vice-president for digital printing and coding Ralf Hipp. "In labels, there is a lot more competition."

A look at the list of alternative inkjet machines opposite highlights Hipp’s point, with most aimed firmly at labels as their primary market. He also adds that for labels there are equally viable rival digital technologies, notably HP’s Indigo.

However, there is one thing that the Indigo technology can’t do, and that, he argues, inkjet rivals aren’t so strong on either: integrating the print process with other production steps.

"The difference is that we offer the Gamma as a module," he says. "It can be supplied as either an end-to-end system on a transport table, or just as the printheads. Most customers want the latter and to use an existing web transport base or integrate with another line."

Industrial printing applications include anything currently carried out using pad printing or screen printing. Here the advantages of digital printing are clear as firms move towards producing smaller batches with greater customisation and more frequent changeovers. Hipp claims customers have cut the changeover time from several hours to under 20 minutes by switching to digital printing. He also adds it has opened up new markets, including personalised products and gifts.

In packaging, the applications for the Gamma include late-stage customisation, including language, and adding the appropriate logos and graphics to products that are sold under several different brands.

At the heart of the Gamma are Xaar’s 1001 printheads. The 1001 offers a native resolution of 360dpi greyscale
– Xaar’s hybrid side shooter configuration allows ink to continuously recirculate behind the nozzles to help
reduce blockages and enable any that do get blocked to be recovered, essential for the single-pass applications
the Gamma is designed for.

The 70 version uses four heads (one for each colour). The announced, but yet to ship, 140 will use twice that amount, with two heads per colour to double the width covered. Hipp says it is possible to produce a wider unit, up to 210mm by combining three heads per colour, but development will depend on demand. One thing that isn’t possible is to knit narrower units together to cover a wider span.

According to Hipp, The Xaar head was chosen for its high quality. He argues that the firm’s experience with rival heads from the likes of Konica Minolta and Kyocera in other products and for different applications meant it was well-placed to pick the most appropriate technology to fit the requirements of the Gamma’s target audience.

Two versions of the Gamma are available, the standard version and the P, which differ in their curing method. Both use LED UV curing but the P provides inter-unit pinning, which ensures the resulting print is pin-sharp by preventing any mixing of the inks while they are still liquid before the UV-cure.

Hipp says that for 95% of applications the standard unit will suffice, but for some, particularly where printing text and data that need to be especially crisp, pinning is advantageous. For applications that require flexibility the P unit can operate with the pinning function turned off, too.

One of the advantages claimed for the LED curing system is its small footprint, which makes it easier to integrate the Gamma into other systems. If required, the Gamma can be combined with additional single-colour Omega printheads with UV-curing to apply either white or varnish. Hipp claims the firm’s own white ink is particularly strong, with more than double the pigment weight than rivals, ensuring a very opaque result.

Hipp says one of the firm’s strong points is that it provides additional expertise including its own ink supply, control software and ink rather than just integrating off-the-shelf components. "For us, it is important to have all parts of the system," he says. His argument is that this level of control of all the components is essential to delivering the highest possible print quality.

Atlantic Zeiser owns its own ink firm, Tritrion, and software firm, Soha. For the burgeoning personalisation market, Soha’s expertise in PDF-based datastreams and close ties with Adobe and third-party RIP developments for a number of other inkjet firms bode well for Atlantic Zeiser’s ability to provide a total solution. "We are developing a PDF-based solution for all our printers," he says. "Via Soha we will be the first firm to offer a PDF/VT-based solution."

The Gamma is one of an emerging class of narrow-format colour inkjet printers that promise to transform the industrial, label and packaging markets. It meets a need to integrate the printing process with other manufacturing steps through its compact size and flexible configuration. The firm believes that flexibility is crucial with potential customers looking to trial the system standalone before committing to integrating it within their production once they are happy that actual performance meets up to the promise of the concept.

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SPECIFICATIONS
Max width  70 & 70P: 70mm, 140 & 140P: 140mm
Speed 24m/min
Price Print and curing unit only, Gamma 70 £109,000 (125,000 euro) and Gamma 70P £139,000. Transport systems or integration from £44,000
Contact Atlantic Zeiser UK 01264 324222

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ALTERNATIVES

Domino N600
The N600 is Domino’s first press, although it can be supplied as modules to integrate on existing lines if required. Aimed at volume label production applications, unlike the Gamma and most rivals the N600 uses Kyocera heads, which Domino claims offer higher speed and native resolution (600dpi).
Max width 333mm
Speed 75m/min
Price £520,000
Contact Domino 01954 782551

Durst Tau 150
Durst is leveraging its inkjet expertise gained in wide-format and photographic markets to offer a full range of inkjet solutions – the Tau 150 is its offering for roll-to-roll labels. Based on Xaar 1001 heads, this system offers a high speed of 48m/min in a CMYK-plus-white configuration.
Max width 140mm
Speed 48m/m
Price £322,000 (370,000 euro)
Contact Durst +39 0472 810111

EFI Jetrion 4000
EFI’s Jetrion is a roll-to-roll machine aimed at the labels market. It uses the same Xaar heads as the Atlantic Zeiser, and is available in two widths, the 165mm-wide 4000 and the 210mm wide 4830. Recent advances include LED curing and a white ink option. It uses EFI’s Fiery XF workflow.
Max web width 4000: 165mm; 4830: 210mm
Speed 37m/min
Price 4000: £295,000; 4830: £331,900
Contact MPS 01942 493000

Heidelberg Linoprint DriveLine B
LinoPrint is Heidelberg’s inkjet division. The DriveLine B is a four-colour UV-cured system (with the option of two spot colours), which is based on the Xaar 1001 head and supplied as a complete roll-to-roll system. The firm also offers the FixedLine for integration with existing lines.
Max width 144mm (288mm also available)
Speed 30m/min
Price n/s
Contact LinoPrint +49 431 386 1290

Industrial Inkjet ColourPrint 72
IIJ’s ColourPrint is based around Konica Minolta printheads and is available on a transport or standalone to integrate with existing lines, where the firm claims its 100mm depth is beneficial. Available in a larger range of widths than the Gamma, with an even wider 350mm version in development. IIJ showed a high-res high speed unit (true 720x720dpi at 54metres/min)at LabelExpo.
Max width 72mm (also in 36mm,142mm and 282mm)
Speed 27m/m
Price from £55,000
Contact Industrial Inkjet 01954 267 403