Countdown to Drupa: Kodak bets on Sonora, Ultrastream and Flexcel NX at Drupa

The Kodak India team briefed PrintWeek India about the “limited edition of the Electra thermal plate which shall be available from Kodak for the first 200 entries at Drupa. This makes it a collectible of sorts for true connoisseurs of the offset printing game.”

The Libra VP Plates are Kodak’s foray into violet plate technology. The plates are  manufactured in Germany and cater to the newspapers or commercial printers  with options for processing – like traditional processing or easy chem. 

One of the star attractions at the Kodak stall (the fifth largest at Drupa) will be the Flexcel NX System 2016 which make its debut at Drupa. The Flexcel NX will add to the company’s NX Advantage technology. The new features include NX tags for the application of multiple patterns on a single plate layout and Advanced Edge Definition, a Kodak-patented technology that controls ink flow at the edge of objects, resulting in cleaner print and greater visual edge definition. 

The Kodak stand will also feature an Ultra NX ‘experience room’ to showcase environmentally conscious plate technology. Indian printers who want to be a part of the experience room can book their appointments with their local Kodak representatives.

The Kodak team is very excited about the new Ultrastream continuous inkjet head as its fourth-generation product. It is aiming to sign up OEM partners at Drupa who could use the head in sheetfed inkjet presses or in a wide-format array.

The Ultrastream is slower than Kodak’s existing Stream high-speed inkjet heads, but produces better quality. It can print 153m/min at 1,800dpi resolution.

Kodak said that at the heart of the new technology are precise silicon nozzles that incorporate the latest industry advances in micro-electromechanical systems and semiconductor technology, as well as a simplified and elegant electrostatic drop selection scheme.

The silicon nozzle plate consists of an array of 2,560 nozzles with an approximate diameter of 9 microns positioned linearly at 600dpi. It can print 153m/min at 1,800dpi resolution. There will also be live demonstrations of a Prosper 6000C press with inline finishing. The Prosper 6000 can print up to 300m/min and was designed to fulfill a variety of applications, including books, newspapers and magazines and general commercial work.

The press will be running with a MegTec automatic roll splicer and multiple inline finishing solutions for two different applications: magazines and catalogs printed on lightweight coated paper and finished with a Manroland Web Systems FoldLine, as well as commercial applications that will be finished with a Vits multicut variable servo sheeter.

The stand will also be partly occupied by Kodak’s This is Inkjet! Loft, an apartment decorated with printed products produced using Kodak Stream inkjets, including laminate flooring, countertops, furniture, wallpaper and water bottles. Additionally, Kodak will be presenting the new NexPress ZX3900 Digital Production Color Press, an enhanced version of the NexPress SX platform. The ZX3900 supports thicker substrates, and is targeted at applications such as labels, tags and small format folding cartons. It can print onto longer sheets, of up to 1.35m in length, and has switchable colour stations, so colour order and combinations can be changed depending on requirements.

Komal Sharma, managing director of Middle East, Africa, South Asia, Australia and New Zealand along with Bhalchandra Nikumb, the managing director – India Cluster & West Asia Cluster ; Channel Director – South East Asia will be present on all days of the Drupa show at the Kodak stall. 

Kodak is hosting a special India Day on 4 June for their Indian customers and the Indian print fraternity.

Drupa 2016 will take place from 31 May to 10 June 2016 at Dusseldorf, Germany. PrintWeek India is a cooperating media partner at the show. The team led by Noel D’cunha, Rushikesh Aravkar and Monica Rohra will be present on all days of the show.