Ricoh at Hunkeler Innovationdays: A New Dawn for Production Printing

Ricoh Europe Plc is taking its production printing “New Dawn” theme to Hunkeler Innovationdays, February 23-26, Lucerne, with the world's first public showing of the game-changing Ricoh Pro VC60000 next-generation, continuous feed, high volume inkjet platform.

Ricoh will be showcasing on stand P8 a new era of high speed inkjet innovation in graphic arts print production. The highly modular and scalable Ricoh Pro™ VC60000 production inkjet press will be presented in its full duplex printing configuration, including undercoat and protector coat capabilities. Visitors will experience first-hand its ability to print high quality direct mail, books and marketing materials running at 1200 x 1200 dpi on standard coated offset stocks.

“The market reaction to the Ricoh Pro VC60000 has been exceptionally positive and we are delighted to be able to give so many production printing professionals the opportunity to see it in action at this leading industry event,” comments Graham Moore, Director, Business Development, Ricoh Europe. “It has become clear that the breakout innovations offered by this outstanding addition to our portfolio will enable operations to embrace market growth opportunities and production efficiency benefits.”

Visitors to the show will be able to see the capabilities of the Pro VC60000 with print applications that include:

• The Cult of Porsche: In the Beginning will be digitally printed on offset stock, delivering the impact and quality that, until now, has been associated only with offset printing. Originally produced in short runs and shown at last year’s London Book Fair, it will be inkjet printed for the first time for Hunkeler Innovationdays.
• The Bianchi catalogue with its challenging brand colours and high quality bike imagery will demonstrate the results inkjet is capable of such as readily reproducing work previously the preserve of offset.

Ricoh will also be highlighting the newly-announced Ricoh Pro™ C9100 series, a durable high volume digital colour press. Running at up to 130ppm, the fastest press in its class, it has a duty cycle of 1.75 million coupled with the ability to print on textured substrates and media up to 400 gsm at full rated speed. Its new toner delivers a larger colour gamut and it can offer a 700mm print length for banners, a wide range of finishing options and the ability to integrate third-party options. Visitors will see live demonstrations during the event including the production of the Bianchi catalogue 650mm x 225mm cover on 300gsm.

Efficient workflow and data excellence are critical to the success of today’s printing businesses. To demonstrate how Ricoh is helping clients to optimise their productivity and overall performance, Ricoh will have three dedicated software pods on its stand. These will include demonstrations of:

• TotalFlow BatchBuilder, this is the first public showing in Europe of the easy-to-adopt, standalone hardware-agnostic production management tool designed to batch print jobs in the most efficient manner;
• TotalFlow Ricoh Process Director, a configurable output processmanagement system driving high-speed continuous-feed production printers;
• MarcomCentral, a cloud-based (SaaS) web-to-print solution that automates creation, printing, management and distribution of marketing collateral and campaigns, including variable data communications.

To add to the value of the printed piece, Ricoh also offers Clickable Paper, an interactive print solution that makes printed materials interactive and increases their longevity. Visitors to Ricoh’s stand will learn how easy it can be to incorporate this value-added service into the offerings a printer can bring to clients.

“Whether it is broadening market capabilities or adding value there are numerous ways businesses can transition into new market areas supported by Ricoh’s solutions. For many the step into unfamiliar territory can be confidently made as long as they are assured that their offerings, supported by the right hardware, software and services, can effectively and profitably support a new client base,” states Mr Moore. “New additions to Ricoh’s portfolio, such as the Ricoh Pro VC60000 and MarcomCentral, support this expansion while improving productivity and profitability for traditional service offerings. Building on the expertise and knowledge we have accrued over the years we are helping operations get fit for the future as well as extend their reach to new clients and markets.”

Ricoh is sponsoring DOXNET, on Wednesday, February 25. Benoit Chatelard, General Manager, Solutions, Ricoh Europe, will be presenting at the DOXNET seminar on the theme of ‘A New Dawn’. Ricoh is also sponsoring the Interquest Digital Book Printing forum on Tuesday, February 25, where Chatelard will be sharing Ricoh’s latest technoloy and client innovations.