Five top news of the week

EFI results out

“Fiery is well positioned for starting to turn the corner and show growth in Q3 for the first time in five quarters,” said EFI chief executive Guy Gecht who was in India a short while ago.

The manufacturer’s results for the period ending 30 June 2017 were postponed last month while the company carried out the internal review and examined the way some sales of the display graphics products in its Industrial inkjet segment had been invoiced.

Guy Gecht, EFI chief executive

The business reported revenue of USD247m in the period, up 1% compared to second quarter 2016 revenue of USD245.7m.

The company reported Industrial Inkjet revenue in the period of USD141.7m, up 1.1% year-on-year, Productivity Software revenue of USD39.1m, up 7.5% year-on-year, and Fiery revenue of USD66.3m. This figure was down 4.2% year-on-year, though EFI said it was still better than expected.

Heidelberg announces features in Versafire

The German major has announced for the Versafire CV and CP family of presses include a new neon spot colour, Prinect 2018 with improved DFE functionality and new substrate management and business analysis tools.

The new updates are expected to be rolled out towards the end of the year.

The Indian operations of Heidelberg have been busy. A packaging major in North India has installed a 10-colour unit of its marquee press. According to the official import data that is available, this means, "the total number of units (new and pre-owned) is more than 70."

At the moment, all the preparations are for Labelexpo in Brussels where it will showcase its flagship product Gallus which has 120 installations in India.

HP unveils new machines at Chicago show

At Print 17 in Chicago, HP unveiled the Indigo 12000 HD B2 digital press and launch its Indigo 50000 to the global market.

According to a press release, the 12000 HD press is an "upgrade" of the existing Indigo 12000 B2 press. It is not "commercially available". The press uses new high-definition writing heads to double image resolution to 1,625dpi, surpassing offset printing, according to the manufacturer.

The pricing and commercial launch date for the new Indigo 12000 HD press and retrofit option are currently not available, but a late 2017 or early 2018 date is expected.

HP also launched its Indigo 50000 B1 digital device to the commercial market after a successful beta test at print firm in the USA. The oversized duplex roll-fed press can print 42m/min in colour and 142m/min in mono on virtually any type of paper and is designed for ‘high-coverage’, high-volume printing.

Landa Digital Printing makes a move

Yishai Amir, Landa chief executive

The first beta machine has been up and running at Israeli packaging printer Graphica Bezalel for about three weeks. It is a four-colour S10 with hybrid coater, that will be upgraded to a seven-colour CMYKOBG configuration for a wider colour gamut, when that becomes available.

Jo Francis in PrintWeek UK said, "The latest Landa output is much improved on the samples shown at Drupa last year, but is yet to reach the peak quality standards demanded by most potential customers. The firm is still in the process of perfecting its AQM closed loop quality management system, which uses AVT technology."

Landa chief executive Yishai Amir outlined the firm’s roll-out plans, with the beta phase for the simplex S10 continuing in the first half of 2018, with commercialization in H2. The perfecting S10 will be in beta-test from H2 2018 with commercial availability “early” in 2019, while the web-fed W10 for flexible packaging will be beta-tested in the first half of 2019, with commercialisation slated for mid-year.

Second Scodix at PM Digitals

P Chellappan of PM Digitals

Chennai-based PM Digital Products is in the news yet again with Scodix. Readers of PrintWeek India will recall, they were the first digital print firm to install a Scodix. Now they are the first to install Scodix with foiling.

P Chellappan of PM Digitals said that "finishing is must and printing is a process so you can differentiate yourself with print enhancement and he is working towards." The firm is targeting "A and A+ print buyers.

The digital specialist will partner with a major converter in Chennai for "print enhancement in packaging".

The Scodix Ultra Pro + Foil B2 digital enhancement press offers UV-based polymer varnishing and spot foiling, it doesn’t require expensive foil blocking dies and can provide a raised gloss foil finish in one, smooth pass.