A Look at Inkjet
I normally don’t cover the digital print engines in my work with WhatTheyThink, preferring to focus on the front end stuff, which I generally find more interesting. But at drupa, I did spend some time looking at inkjet offerings. Well, after all, it was supposed to be the inkjet drupa. What’s a girl supposed to do?
There certainly was inkjet everywhere you looked. Even Heidelberg is bringing an inkjet offering to market! Screen was showing the prototype of a sheetfed inkjet press that looks to be pretty interesting, perhaps an easier way for sheetfed printers to take advantage of this approaching freight train of a trend. But what I found most interesting were the inks various suppliers were touting, from HP’s Latex inks to Océ’s CrystalPoint technology with TonerPearls, to Xerox’ toner gel technology demo.
One of the issues with water-based inkjet inks is the need to remove water from the inks in a drying process, and the substrate limitations due to potential wicking and image spread because of the water. Latex inks get around that, but still perform better on specially treated (read: more expensive) papers, according to HP. HP Latex inks are water-based, and require curing with heat inside the printer. During this process, latex particles coalesce into a durable film and prints are dry and ready to use upon exit.
Océ’s Crystal point melts Toner Pearls, which are about the size of a marble. This means the ink sits on top of the media, rather than wicking in, and widens the range of substrates that can be used, including less expensive office papers on one end of the spectrum and plastics on the other. The initial implementation was developed by the Venlo group that develops engineering printers, so was designed to print low-ink-coverage architectural, engineering and construction type documents. But putting that type of technology in the hands of users is naturally going to lead them to using the printers to print high coverage posters and other materials, which is exactly what early installs are doing. My biggest concern about this initial implementation on the part of Océ is the ink delivery system. The ColorWave 600 has four plastic cartridges that hold TonerPearls. They are easily visible, mounted on the top of the machine, and made of clear plastic so they can easily be removed, replaced and inspected to see what color is where, in case you want to know. But they are not user refillable, nor can they be exchanged for filled cartridges. Instead, users are instructed to send them to various designated recycling points where they will be recycled with other plastics. Recycling is good, but reuse is better for the environment. And it seems to me that these cartridges would have to be changed frequently when in use with heavy coverage applications. This means the user needs to store a bunch of those cartridges, and they will take up a lot of space. It must also be expensive for Océ to operate this way, and those costs will have to be passed on to the user. I certainly hope the company reevaluates this delivery mechanism in future product executions of this technology.
At this point, it is too early to say what Xerox specifically plans to do, since its toner gel technology was only shown as a technology demonstration. In this implementation, the company has developed a gel that is semi-solid at room temperature but has a low melting point allowing the substance to easily be ejected as a liquid from the inkjet heads. I had the impression the development is fairly well along, and perhaps we might see the first products using it by sometime next year. Xerox is using the industrial-strength stainless steel printheads that have been so successful with is Phaser products, a technology that was acquired several years ago when it picked up Portland-based Tektronics. The toner gel will give a more offset-like appearance than the wax used in Phaser solid inks. But like Phaser, it will be able to be used with a wide range of substrates, because it sits on top of—yet adheres to—the substrate. The company is also exploring other applications of this technology, including the creation of 3D models, a time-consuming process but less expensive than other approaches to making small models. This is done by applying many layers of ink to build the model over several hours, depending on the size of the model. Xerox showed some examples. I don’t pretend to understand exactly how it is done, but it is fascinating.
The upshot of all of this is that inkjet is here, and we will see a range of new and innovative approaches being implemented by suppliers to the market. Print service providers should keep their eye on this ball, and jump in early. The key to success—not much different from other technologies we have seen in our industry, including color electrophotographic products—is to understand the potential of the technology and begin talking to customers with those potentials in mind. When you find a match, and the cost justification looks good for you and the customer, jump on it, early and hard. Innovative market differentiation is the key to success in this highly competitive market and the uncertain economic times we find ourselves in.
A good way to differentiate yourself is to adopt promising technologies early and take your customers with you as you march into the future. Whoever you choose as your “inkjet” partner, make sure they stand ready to support you in developing new applications and business models. That will benefit everyone in the ecosystem—you, your customer, the supplier, and the rest of the market. As you stretch the limits of the technology, the supplier will stretch the limits of theirs. A win/win for everyone.
Cary Sherburne
Whattheythink.com
Sherburne & Associates