The direction of India’s digital print industry, combined with the scale and growth prospects of the local economy, requires a new focus to meet the needs of India’s printer manufacturers. Ricoh has joined forces with 360DPI, an innovative local business founded less than two years ago, to support the domestic demand for industrial printers and expertise ahead of India’s anticipated role as an active exporter. 360DPI facilitate the availability of all Ricoh printheads to OEMs in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, providing detailed assistance on printer engineering, as well as printhead capabilities, selection, and integration. All of these are directly connected to and supplied by Ricoh.

The partnership also includes development and supply of drive electronics and software — designed and made in India — with developer support and the capability to create waveforms for optimal printhead drop ejection. It also provides customers with fast-track, direct access to Ricoh’s UK-based Global Inkjet Technical Centre, which is the company’s centre for industrial inkjet application expertise, testing fluid compatibility. Experts at the centre engineer printer systems and conduct testing to optimise performance and reliability with best possible printhead life expectancy.

Graham Kennedy, director, Industrial Printing Group, Ricoh Europe, said, “Specifying the combinations of detailed technology components such as printheads and ink is critical to supporting the establishment of India as a design and manufacturing powerhouse. This requires expert knowledge sharing and support, both technical and commercial. Commercial support starts at validating the concept for development to set a path for an end-product that the industry can use. Technical support in the integration process is commonly the difference between a bad printer and a good printer, one that suffers functional, performance, reliability and life expectancy issues versus a fully supported printer designed to be optimum in all these aspects. Many factors combine to provide this support, from advice on drive electronics and fluid supply systems to compatibility testing and specific waveform development for inks that are to run in printers.” 

Abhishek Verma, CEO, 360DPI, said, “We’re very proud to work with Ricoh and are delighted by the possibilities to apply Ricoh’s range of printheads and technology for printers to be developed and made in India. The UK-based team at Ricoh offers wonderful support and in-depth application knowledge. This will be an exciting and rewarding journey.”

Kennedy added: “Ricoh is a global leader in inkjet printhead technology, addressing a vast array of applications from entry-level to some of the most productive industrial printing equipment in the world. Working with 360DPI, we aim to enable OEMs to use Ricoh for first-class engineering of inkjet systems in India, to deliver reliable, high-performing printers to the market.”