Inkjet in newspaper printing: An update

Digital printing is making inroads in the newspaper plants. Titled, ‘Digital presses – A status update. What is latest in the technology, speed, finishing options and software’ the session focused on digital technology coupled with the coldset technology and how a combination of both the technology can help cater to the industry effectively.

03 Sep 2015 | By Priya Raju

Manfred Werfel, director, World Printers Forum, Wan-Ifra, said, “Every Drupa show is another ‘Inkjet Drupa’ and there is a lot of focus on digital.”
 
The industrial web inkjet has developed rapidly with a focus on the speed, web width and printing quality. Comparing the inkjet and coldset offset process, Werfel said, “In inkjet, the start-up waste and the time taken for a job change is low, and format variability and personalisation are some of its features.” Also, there is a circulation flexibility which can reach to a circulation base of one to thousands or lakh.
 
There are positive views about the coldset offset wherein the quality of the colour print is high and also a high degree of automation can be achieved. Plus it increases the speed (copies/hour) of the production. Inkjet is not compatible with newsprint quality. In coldest, it has a lower cost per copy and produces a standard quality. Werfel said, “Coldset offset exactly meets newspaper requirements.”
 
Werfel said, “The digital newspaper printing has developed in niche markets and in remote distribution areas like islands.” Explaining about the feature of the inkjet process, Werfel said, “In traditional newspaper production inkjet covers can cater to the niche applications successfully and also help in catering to the small circulation newspaper products.” Inkjet can act as an add-on for a business generation or inkjet can by itself be a complementary business.
 
Werfel said, “Combining the coldset and the inkjet process and creating a hybrid process will be the next step forward.” Few applications of this process in the newspaper can be in the games section, lottery numbers printed, and can help in providing a customer-specific advertisement. This can help to create new and innovative newspaper products.  
                                                                                                                                                 
“As the newspaper requirement changes, inkjet unveils its performance. Inkjet in newspaper production has arrived,” concluded Werfel.