Domino Printing Sciences will mark its entry into transactional, direct mail and book printing applications with the launch of the K630i high speed monochrome printing press at the Hunkeler Innovation Days (23rd – 26th February, Lucerne, Switzerland).
Philip Easton, Director of Domino's Digital Printing Solutions Division, comments: "The K630i is a natural progression in digital printing for Domino after launching the K600i digital module in 2010, and the four colour N600i digital label press in 2012, now available as the N610i in up to seven colours. The K630i is based on the same proven technology that has seen both these products take leadership positions in their respective markets."
The K630i is an evolution of the Graph Tech AG (Switzerland) MonoCube product that was first released in 2012, just before Domino, already a shareholder, acquired the remaining shares of the company. There are currently four installations in Europe and North America, each running between 2-12 million A4 impressions a month. A further five presses are now on order.
Bryan Palphreyman, Domino K630i Product Manager, comments: "I am delighted that this product has become part of the Domino product offering. Although we have already had a number of successful installations, by adding Domino's global service structure and additional ink jet expertise, it means we can now offer our customers the complete solution."
The K630i is configured for 75m/min (246ft/min) or 150m/min (492ft/min) with print width options of 333mm (13.1"), 445mm (17.54") or 558mm (21.96") as either simplex or duplex in the same frame. It is supplied with the modular Domino Editor RIP digital front end, which includes support for PDF, IPDS and AFP data formats.
The press is offered with either cost effective aqueous pigmented ink or a unique high impact UV ink designed for high gloss coated stocks commonly required in direct marketing applications.
"The UV-curable ink option represents a real alternative for printers who are looking to differentiate themselves in the direct mail sector," adds Easton. "This high gloss ink stands out on the page and enables the use of coated matt and gloss substrates, which is not possible with aqueous inks."
The cost effective pigmented aqueous ink, AQ90BK, was launched by Domino last year. It has class-leading optical density, but is at the same time designed to limit show through for low grammage substrates. There are no click charges, the ink is sold in litres, and Domino offers its 'Relax' finance deal and 'TotalCare plus' service option for customers who want a comprehensive total support package.
The duplex solution is based on a single enclosure and offers one of the smallest footprints in the industry with a print section (excluding unwind and rewind) of only 2m x 3m (7ft x 10ft) in size.
Palphreyman points out: "The K630i has proven to be significantly more reliable and cost effective to operate in a site where we are replacing a number of existing toner units. The press has allowed the customer to almost double production output, but now out of less floor space."
The K630i benefits from the inclusion of Domino's unique i-Tech intelligent Technology productivity-enhancing smart features designed to optimise printer performance and maintain the highest levels of productivity. Domino's i-Tech ActiFlow ink circulating system ensures that the ink is always moving around the print head, even when the print head has stopped, while the revolutionary i-Tech CleanCap automated print head cleaning and capping technology reduces manual operator intervention. In addition, the i-Tech StitchLink micro-motor controller technology ensures that all heads are automatically and precisely calibrated to print as one, enabling seamless print across the full web width.
Easton summarises: "The K630i is based on proven Domino i-Tech technology that will provide higher levels of reliability than other ink jet offerings. The UV-curable ink solution offers something quite unique for the progressive direct mail printer. For aqueous applications, we strongly recommend printers look at the business model associated with monochrome ink jet. It offers the simplicity and reliability compared to toner, and we believe that, in most cases, this solution represents the lowest cost per page solution. In a market where the printer sells on one cost per page and effectively incurs print costs at another, the Domino K630i often delivers the most attractive profit position."
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