By DPS Staff
Part one of three
PRINT 19 took place once more at the McCormick Center in Chicago, IL from October 3 to 5, 2019. Hosted by the Association for PRINT Technologies (APTech), this year’s show marked the end of an era.
Next year, PRINT transitions to Brand Print Americas 2020. The new event is a collaboration between the Tarsus group, the organizer of Labelexpo Americas, and APTech. The inaugural event is scheduled at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, IL from September 15 to 17, 2020. Co-located with the 2020 edition of Labelexpo Americas, Brand Print Americas brings together the commercial print and label converter communities in one event.
Production Printing
Attendees at this year’s PRINT 19 witnessed new product debuts, technology advancements, and had the opportunity to network with peers. Here we highlight print products located throughout the floor.
AnaJet, Inc. featured the Ricoh Ri 1000 Direct to Garment Printer. Ideal for new businesses, print shops looking to expand their offerings, and ecommerce businesses with mid-volume production, the Ri 1000 offers fast speeds, high image quality, more accurate colors, and automated setup and maintenance.
Epson showcased the SureColor 3170x, which features cartridge-free printing in a clean, space-saving design. The new, easy-to-fill, refillable ink tanks eliminate time spent purchasing and changing ink cartridges. The printer is ideal for low-cost, point of purchase and education posters, as well as blueprints and line drawings up to 24 inches.
HP Inc. highlighted a variety of its HP Indigo and PageWide printing innovations, as well as solutions for innovative and secure printing. One product featured, ISBC RFID Paper, is an HP Indigo certified substrate that enables users to produce smart tickets, hangtags for apparel, and NFC business cards.
Koenig & Bauer highlighted its new augmented reality support solution—AR DataGlass Remote Support System. The system features an HD camera and microphone to provide an audio-visual link between technicians and remote maintenance. With this capability, customers are able to ensure maximum uptime.
LogoJET highlighted its direct-to-substrate, light industrial inkjet printing equipment. The company offers solutions for printing to a variety of substrates including wood, metals, plastics, glass, ceramics, stone, vinyl, rubber, and even curved products using simple inkjet technology.
Mutoh America displayed the ValueJet 626UF and 1627MH printers for packaging applications.
RISO showcased the ComColor FW and GD series of cutsheet color inkjet printers as well as the production-level RISO T2.
Xanté previewed the Rocket High-Speed Envelope Printer, which utilizes HP PageWide thermal printhead technology. The company also introduced two new flatbed UV printers—the X-16 and X-33 UV.
Xerox featured a number of new products in its booth. The company launched the new Xerox PrimeLink C9065 and C9070 Printers as well as the Adaptive CMYK Plus Technology, and Fluorescent Yellow dry ink for the Xerox iGen 5. The Adaptive CMYK Plus Technology is an accessory engineered to augment traditional CMYK offerings. For the PrimeLink production printers, the accessory expands the device’s color capabilities with fluorescents, gold, silver, white, and clear embellishments. A similar accessory for the C60/C70 offers printers capabilities beyond CMYK including metallic, white, and clear. The company also offered a virtual demonstration of the new Baltoro HF, a cutsheet inkjet press.
Technology Highlights
Digital print technologies continue to drive innovation further. Value-added print capabilities are trending this year, including specialty inks, die cutting, and UV spot coating. The time is now to jump into it. In part two we continue the discussion with a look at the range of finishing vendors present at PRINT 19.
Click here to read part two of this exclusive online series, Finding Finishing Systems.
Oct2019, DPS Magazine
