Konica Minolta strides ahead with 100ppm press

The road show also celebrated the company’s meteoric rise in India since it decided to set shop in the country in 2010. Since then, according to the company sources, Konica Minolta has more than 50% of the market share in the segment, with more than 2,000 production engines in Indian market.

The new series of production presses, targeted at commercial printers and print service providers, incorporates Simitri HDE Toner, a newly-developed toner that realises improved image quality and energy-saving performance, and support hybrid workflow with seamless integration with Kodak Prinergy, Agfa Apogee and other third party pre-press and workflow solutions.

The Bizhub Press C1100 and Bizhub Press C1085 can print up to 100 and 85 pages per minute (ppm) respectively, without compromising on the quality, delivering reliably accurate registration and colour consistency. In addition, flexible substrate handling and inline finishing options provide professional looking output while enabling more effective workflow management.

“The Bizhub Press C1100 series is a new platform, built upon the success of our previous generations of digital presses, with expanded capabilities, flexibility and speeds to further drive productivity,” said Yuji Nakata, managing director, Konica Minolta Business Solutions India. “We are confident that these new presses will improve the customer experience of Konica Minolta products and solutions.”

According to the company officials, the new presses were developed with the user requirements in mind. “Konica Minolta has always provided competitive products that provide consistently high quality and meet user demands,” said V Balakrishnan, EGM (marketing), Konica Minolta India. “The new Bizhub Press C1100 and C1085 series sets a new benchmark in the colour production printer market.”

Balakrishnan said it was a much-awaited launch, especially for Konica Minolta loyalists, and with this, the company has now entered into the 100 ppm speed segment.

To spread the word, the digital production presses manufacturing company unveiled the product in five cities, together with its four Indian representatives – in Mumbai and Kochi with Monotech Systems on 22 November and 3 December, in Delhi with HCL Infosystems on 24 November, in Bengaluru with KMI Business Technologies on 29 November and in Kolkata with TechNova Imaging Systems on 5 December.

Balakrishnan said Konica Minolta has already received around 12 solid inquires about the new press, which will be converted into deals in the next three months. “Being a FOGRA certified printing press, with this press, a printer can easily import work from MNCs and the overseas market,” he added.

According to the company sources, the new production press, for paper weights of 55 to 350 gsm, supports a wide range of paper sizes, from postcard to 330x487mm, with suction feeding option for reliable paper feeding. The new Bizhub press is also equipped with features like dehumidifier and humidifier, which helps maintain the moisture in the paper for the post printing finishing applications.

The colour controllers on the press offers robust JDF capabilities to support the hybrid workflow with seamless integration with Kodak Prinergy, Agfa Apogee and other third party pre-press and workflow solutions. Customers can also reduce the touch points in their business and production process by integrating the digital front from Konica Minolta, EFI and CREO.

Enhanced Digital Front Ends IC308, IC602, IC309 & IC310 performs colour management for each CMYK, RGB and spot colour space irrespective of the application or file format, making it ideal for colour management matched to purposes such as proofing and production of final deliverables.