The Clash of the Titans

“Fortune is ally to the brave.”
-Laurence Olivier, as Zeus, in Clash of the Titans, Warner Brothers Entertainment, 1981

Recently I reported on the latest, high-speed, grand-format printers announced by HP Scitex (Palo Alto, CA) and EFI VUTEk (Meredith, NH) and said both companies believe they’ve presented genuine alternatives to screenprinters and, in many cases, offset litho shops (see ST, November 2008, page 23). Almost immediately, Inca Digital (Cambridge, UK) divulged a similar print solution. Do we now have a clash of the titans – three major machine manufacturers pitching for the same market sector?

Truly, this introduction created competition between three, fast-throughput, good-quality machines, each offering a strong alternative to screenprinting processes and aimed at the same buying group.

Inca Digital, owned by Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co. Ltd. (Kyoto, Japan), is well-acquainted with the wide-format, inkjet market’s top end. It’s easy to comprehend why Inca spiraled the existing twosome into a threesome. If three competitors can, almost concurrently, divine the need for high-speed, flatbed, print machines priced within the budgets of serious print producers – a true need must exist.

Analog to digital
Digital-print technology has impacted print-on-demand production, just-in-time jobs, short runs and specialized applications, because newer, high-speed, grand-format, inkjet printers make both complex and short-run jobs easy and affordable. High-production inkjets are also affecting medium-quantity print runs and, thereby, lowering the crossover point numbers. Such declines will cause print producers to redirect analog applications to digital presses. The three companies obviously believe screenprinters want to adapt POP- and poster-printing processes to digital. (Editors note: The Point of Purchase Advertising Institute says U.S. retail POP is a $17 billion market.)

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HP Scitex, EFI Vutek, Inca Digital
EFI Vutek’s DS flatbed printer and the HP Scitex FB7500 produced prints at SGIA 2008 (Atlanta). Not displayed, but discussed, was Inca Digital’s Onset S20, a high-speed, flatbed printer designed for companies that don’t have the budget or the space to accommodate Inca’s full-sized Onset. Similar to its competitors, the S20 benefits from features that have been used and proven in other Inca printers.

The EFI VUTEk DS Series claims a maximum print speed of 5,995.4 sq. ft./hr. The Inca Digital Onset S20 claims lower speeds with higher quality, and more passes, than the other two. If it mimics the Onset major, it might be even faster than Inca’s specified maximums.

The HP Scitex FB7500 prints 5,381 sq. ft./hr. in its Express mode, although the company says its comparable net-print speeds are showing higher results.

The FB7500 uses HP’s X2 MEMS printheads, and Inca Digital’s Onset S20 will incorporate specially configured Dimatix Spectra printheads on a full-width print bar. EFI Vutek hasn’t announced its printhead selection. Again, Inca Digital and HP Scitex have opted to print across the short side of the media; I’m sure EFI Vutek has an interesting reason for choosing the long side.

Both HP Scitex and Inca Digital plan to ship in Q1 2009, with the EFI Vutek DS Series targeted for Q2 (machine-production dates aren’t fixed in stone, particularly with such complex machines). Indeed, these manufacturers need to be confident before bringing such production printers to market.

A sizeable investment
Worldwide, manufacturers are facing an increasingly uncertain economic future, which makes it practically impossible to assess the potential demand for these new printers. Print producers might be eager to buy, but until credit restrictions ease and greater financial security becomes apparent, particularly throughout the retail sector, only a super-confident business will consider such a sizeable investment.

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One more thing. If EFI Vutek, HP Scitex and Inca Digital have done their groundwork, then this latest trio of UV-cure flatbed options will be available for some years to come. Further, these three companies wide-format printers have above-average product longevity; therefore, expect these new print machines to become industry mainstays.

But, is there room for all three?

U.K.-based writer, photographer, editor and consultant, Sophie Matthews-Paul is an acknowledged authority on digital printing worldwide. You may contact her at sophie@rockstro.net