Xeikon, a division of Punch Graphix, is set to unveil the results of its continuing investment in research and development at Ipex, which is scheduled for May 18-25 in Birmingham, UK. Featured products are a new upgraded version of the Xeikon 8000 for the commercial and document printing markets, and two new toners that set Xeikon presses apart from the competition. Xeikon can be found at the Punch Graphix stand, Hall 11, Stand C230.
"Less than two years after a strong showing at drupa, we're bringing very important new innovations to Ipex, " says Wim Maes, CEO. "These include a significant speed increase for the Xeikon 8000 and two revolutionary new toners. Ipex has established itself as the second largest global gathering for the industry, with drupa being the largest. The show is the perfect platform for Xeikon to demonstrate its new solutions to thousands of printing professionals from around the world."
Next toner generation
At Ipex 2010, Xeikon will be presenting QA, its next-generation Quadrupled Adapted toners. In 2006, Xeikon achieved a breakthrough in toner development when it pioneered the use of shape-modified polyester toner, which set the standard for image quality and eco-friendliness.
The new toners come in two types: the Industrial version (QA-I), and the Productivity version (QA-P). QA-I toner has been developed specifically for the Xeikon 3000 family and addresses the packaging and labelling market. It delivers major advances in image quality, light fastness, food safety and ecological benefits. The QA-Productivity or QA-P toner is ideal for the document printing and book printing markets, offering benefits in the field of fusing, increased colour gamut and speed. Built on Xeikon's proven Form Adapted (FA) technology, the QA-toners raise the bar of digital colour print toners to new heights.
Xeikon 8000 prints at higher speeds
The Xeikon 8000 has been upgraded to deliver speeds of up to 260 ppm or 19m/minute. Printers must be upgraded to the new Xeikon QA-P toner to achieve these speeds on up to 80 gsm substrates with unlimited toner coverage. Existing Xeikon 8000 engines are field upgradeable to this capability. For the document and commercial printing markets, QA-P toner delivers an increased colour gamut, in addition to enabling an increased engine speed for the Xeikon 8000.
"We are excited to be bringing new capabilities to the commercial and document printing markets with the upgraded Xeikon 8000," said Danny Mertens, Business Development Manager Document Printing.
"Document printing operations can now handle high-volume peak productions more easily. With the speed increase, they can even manage one million images per day if they line up three Xeikon 8000 presses supervised by one dedicated operator. This greatly improves production capacity and significantly reduces costs. We are pushed continuously by our customers because they have an increasing demand for high quality transpromotional and direct marketing pieces. This speed enhancement stretches our reach further into these applications with typical high production peaks."
IPDS 5th Color
Xeikon will also be showing new capabilities for IPDS workflow. "The fifth colour that was already available for our graphic arts customers can now also be driven by IPDS workflows," says Jeroen Van Bauwel, Product Manager Digital Front-End. "The fifth colour station can be used for closely matching some specific custom or PANTONE colours, and for security toner. These capabilities will significantly enhance the production of transactional and transpromotional documents, as well as direct mail."
"Adding the fifth color for IPDS workflow has made our customers operation much more competitive," continues Van Bauwel. "It allows them to compete with other technologies, including inkjet, by delivering superior quality and flexibility, especially in the transactional document market. In addition to the improved color gamut, inline addition or security printing makes this press truly unique and ideally suited to meet the evolving needs of their customers."
Xeikon X-800 Digital Front End
All Xeikon digital printing engines take advantage of Xeikon's X-800 digital front-end. Based on open standards, the X-800 can be integrated into any production environment. Its modular set-up allows users to manage different aspects of production in the most efficient manner possible. Prepress functions, such as impositions and colour management, can be performed in the prepress environment, allowing the press operator to focus on print quality. This contributes to higher press throughput and increased productivity on Xeikon presses.
About Xeikon
A pioneer in digital printing, Xeikon designs, develops and delivers high-end digital color printing systems for the global commercial, document printing and industrial market segments. These systems are composed of advanced web-fed printing engines using LED-array-based, dry toner electrophotography, open workflow software, exclusive toner and other consumables. Xeikon's production and R&D operations are based in Belgium and its solutions are distributed and supported through a worldwide sales and service network. Xeikon is a division of Punch Graphix. For more information, visit http://www.xeikon.com/.
Abour FIG
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