What does the machine do?
The CiPress 500 is, according to Xerox, the world’s first high-volume waterless inkjet printer. The manufacturer says the specially developed solid inks are designed to produce more vibrant and consistent colours even when printing on offset papers. This, says Xerox, enables customers to save money by using less expensive stocks while cutting costs on postage and paper inventory as well.

"The postage and workflow are all important parts of a complete solution," says manager of continuous feed at Xerox Europe Jo Oliphant.

"If you can start using lighter weight papers then you can get more sheets in an envelope for the same postage. You also have to consider how much manpower is needed to manage the inventory of paper. Some printers have warehouses full of paper with a number of staff managing the inventory. If you reduce that scale of inventory and bring it down to a fewer number of papers then that’s going to be less cost to their business."

When did it launch and who is it aimed at?
The CiPress 500 was launched earlier this year with the installation of a machine at DMH Marketing in the US. Xerox says further installations will be made this year in both the US and Europe. The press is targeted at a variety of markets including transactional and transpromo mail, as well as magazine and catalogue publishers.

Xerox says the press’s ability to deal with a very high throughput of data and complex images makes it particularly suitable for transactional and transpromo work. The manufacturer anticipates that magazine and brochure printers will be attracted by the CiPress 500’s ability to produce colour-rich documents without reducing speed.

Oliphant anticipates that other applications will also emerge: "Ultimately, whenever any vendor brings a new press to market what happens is that the customers actually show them where all the applications really are and I suspect it’ll be no different here."

How does it work?
Xerox says the CiPress is capable of producing vibrant colours thanks to the waterless inks it uses. These sit on the surface of the paper, like toner, rather than soaking in. The inks start life as a solid and are heated into a liquid by the press, turning back into a solid when they hit the page. Not only does this produce stronger colours, Xerox says, it can also reduce energy costs as no energy-intensive drying system is needed. The manufacturer adds that this also reduces the risk of cockle and curl in output, as well as the frequency with which printheads become clogged, as the waterless inks are less affected by evaporation.

Does it have other USPs?
The CiPress borrows technology from other Xerox machines, notably the ‘scanbar’ from its iGen4, which detects failed or blocked printheads and signals to the other nozzles to apply more ink to compensate. When too many heads are down, the bar alerts the operator that maintenance needs to be carried out.

"It’s about taking events away from the operator that they would normally have to do something about," says Oliphant. "A robot inside the machine will clean the heads so the operator doesn’t have to. There are different versions of self-cleaning out there, but ours is good because it can be done while a roll of paper is being loaded." The amount of ink wasted in cleaning is also less than in aqueous systems according to Xerox, and doesn’t require licensed waste removal.

What training is available?
Operator training typically takes between one and two weeks. The aim, says Oliphant, is for the operator to be able to deal with certain service events themselves. "The reality is that in most cases the operator’s right there in front of the machine and probably knows how to fix it in a few minutes," says Oliphant, "so why not give them the appropriate skills training so that they can do these things?"

What service support is available?
Service packages are typically tailored to an individual printer’s needs, depending on  their confidence in maintaining the machine and preferred maintenance schedule, for example.