The star of the show

There were many new launches at Ipex which attracted considerable interest among visitors, but undoubtedly the star of the entire show was the Jet Press 720, Fujifilm's ground-breaking B2 inkjet digital press. Shown running for the first time in Europe, this new machine was demonstrated five times a day in a theatre at the heart of the Fujifilm stand, drawing huge crowds to each presentation, with a grand total of around 5,000 people flocking to see the Jet Press in action during the show.

Focussing on the positioning of this new inkjet press in the market, the demonstration highlighted the significant benefits that the Jet Press brings, in particular the ability to print a much wider range of applications digitally. The Jet Press also demonstrated just how productive it can be and just how easy it is to work-and-turn a job, due to the fact that the sheets are completely dry when they emerge from the press. The press minder who pulled the first sheet off the press rubbed his hand over the sheet to demonstrate just how dry the ink was. Actual printed sheets were also handed out at the end of the demonstration, receiving excellent feedback regarding the quality of print. Most printers confirmed just how much like an offset sheet the print coming off the Jet Press is, and the response to the level of detail and vibrancy of the colours was phenomenal.

New opportunities

The demonstration also highlighted just how the Jet Press 720 is set to open up new opportunities in the market for short-run, general purpose commercial print with applications such as gatefold brochures, folders, and more unusual page sizes all being possible down to run lengths of one. With a B2 format size and production speeds of 2,700 B2 sheets per hour, this revolutionary new machine is faster and more flexible than any other digital sheet-fed press on the market. It is ideal for traditional commercial printers looking for a more effective solution for short-run work and for digital printers who are looking to offer a wider range of digital print services.

The ‘sweet-spot' for the Jet Press 720 is short-run jobs where the run lengths are too long for pay-per-click SRA3 digital presses to be economical, but where traditional offset presses struggle because of the longer pre-press, make-ready and ink drying times - typically from run lengths of around a few hundred to a few thousand. The drive towards shorter, more economical and targeted print runs plays into the hands of the Jet Press 720 with this trend only set to continue. The run lengths within this ‘sweet-spot' are where a significant number of jobs are currently being printed, and where the volume growth will take place in the future.