“What you will see today is one example for the future, the future of Epson and the future of the printing industry. Precision is at the core of our business, now and in the future,” said Minoru Usui, Epson’s global president, while announcing the launch.

Usui explained how Epson combined recent breakthrough in Piezo material and high-precision MEMS (micro-electromechanical systems) manufacturing to create the new print chip.

The SurePress L-6034VW, which was first shown at Drupa 2012 as a prototype, is available in two models – CMYK with digital varnish and high-opacity white ink (SurePress L-6034VW) and without white ink (SurePress L-6034V). The machine is designed to print short- to mid-run labels on standard film and paper label substrates between 80 and 340mm wide. The running speed of the machine is estimated to be 15m/min.

The press also employs the Nozzle State Analysis technology, which is unique to Epson. The system automatically senses if a nozzle is not firing and quickly cleans the recovers it. “Printing interruption is minimal and quality is not affected – an important feature that minimises downtime, ink waste and ensures reliability and continuous printing,” said Usui.

Running next to the L6034VW is the SurePress L-4033AW label press, which is the only aqueous inkjet digital label press on the market. The seven-colour press offers quality, ultra short-run labels, especially on uncoated and textured paper. The L6034VW on the other hand is a significantly higher productivity, single-pass press for short- to medium volumes. Duncun Ferguson, director of ProGraphics, Epson Europe, stated that the new L6034VW complements the L-4033AW. “The printers now have the option to chose the best solutions to suit their clients portfolio,” he concluded.