"It's very similar to the 500 series and all I can say is it is even higher quality, so you can draw your own conclusions. It is highly productive but ultra high quality so things like backlits are now very possible on a super-wide format printer."

Also on show will be the Rho 1000 Series high-end flatbed printers, unveiled in the USA and mainland Europe in April, he said.

"Featured on the stand will be the Rho 1012 with a small drop size of only 12 picolitres which provides high resolution printing while maintaining a productivity of up to 490m² per hour at 1000dpi."

He added: "Visitors will see the latest addition to our Rhotex textile printers. Meanwhile Durst Variodrop and Greyscale will be featured in the Rho P10 Series of printers. The new Variodrop technology provides up to 25% increase in output.

"Our application of inkjet technology to industrial applications can be seen with the IP engine, which is a high-speed inkjet engine ideally suited for integration into automated production lines.

"It will print directly onto the widest range of media and typical industrial applications including touch panels, tachometer and manometer displays, as well as membrane switches and instrument panels."

Finally, Durst will highlight options for digital interior decoration. Kit is capable of tackling virtually all surfaces within a building's interior including wallpaper, wood flooring, home textiles, glass and ceramics, he said.

Operations director Ian Turnbull said: "The paste is within the construction so all you do is wet the paper, which makes it easier to apply. This is aimed at people using vinyl and traditional billboard applications."

Other products include 3259 WallpaperSol Persomural 195 satin, a wallpaper compatible with solvent-based or mild solvent pigmented inks, which can be used to cover small cracks in walls.

Also on show is 3416 DuraCure Pop-up 380 matt substrate. This works with UV-curing ink and is also compatible with IR-latex inks. The company said this was an environmentally friendly media with the durability of a pop-up.

Meanwhile, 3418 LightCure Backlit Film 145 DS matt has a double-sided matt coating, and 3550 ClearSol WetCling Film 125 glossy water-activated film clings to windows or can be used as a standard clear film.

The company was pipped by Format Graphics in Milton Keynes, which became the first printer in the UK to own the wide-format digital inkjet machine when it purchased one this spring. EFI launched the machine in 2011, describing it as a "breakthrough" in super-wide technology.

According to John E Wright managing director Tony Barnett, the machine's standout features are speed and quality, producing 100sqm/hr at saleable quality.

"It is so much quicker; there's no finishing or real labour input - it drives itself and is incredibly fast," he said. "The quality is exceptional. There is no banding; it's almost as good as old-fashioned print and mount but less than half the price.

"We had a good relationship with HP and wanted to stay with them, but they didn't have a machine in this particular market at this price. The nearest alternative cost twice as much."

Another plus was cool curing, he said. This made the Vutek GS250LX more "forgiving" when it came to printing on vinyl and fabrics. Barnett said he expected the machine to add £1m in two years to the firm's turnover, currently £6.5m.

"It is extremely productive and we want it to take us into new areas, which we couldn't reach previously because of quality issues. The market for silky fabric exhibition displays is growing rapidly and we want to play a big part.

"This investment offers immediate benefits of speed of production, an extended range of substrates, more colour-management capability and fewer production costs. We will transfer flatbed production to the new Vutek by the end of June.

"The significant reduction in power requirement reduces both our costs and our carbon footprint, thereby underpinning our ISO14001 environmental and ISO 9001 quality qualifications of which we are proud."

Family firm John E Wright was formed in 1900 and today has more than 100 employees in seven regional offices. The 'hub and spoke' business has its main base in Nottingham with around 50 staff, said Barnett.

GT models have a standard table size of 1.25x2.5 metres, the XT printers 2.5x3.05 metres. Both formats can be can be configured with a role-to-roll option.

The 660 models also offer six independent ink channels which can be used to add additional cyan and magenta inks for enhanced quality at high production speeds, or to introduce varnish and white ink for decorative applications. White ink configurations include ‘Varnish + White' for printing white on non-white substrates, or ‘Double-Opacity White' to achieve strong opacity in a single printing pass. Océ Arizona 640 models will be field upgradable to six-channel 660 models.

Dominic Fahy, business group director of display graphics and imaging supplies at Canon UK, said that European and North American beta test users have so far been using the series for a wide range of applications.

"Retail is the biggest one. But we are also seeing it used for poster printing and, because of the quality, photographic applications," he said.

He added that potential users would range from those wanting to upgrade an existing Arizona or other lower productivity flatbed printer, to screen and litho printers new to the flatbed market.

Fahy reported that one Océ Arizona 600 Series model had so far been ordered by an unnamed digital retail printer in London. He said that, with the series becoming commercially available at the end of July, Canon was expecting several more on-stand orders at Fespa.

"What sets this series apart is that the cost of ownership is very competitive and the quality is high," said Fahy. "The reliability of the system is also high. Arizonas are produced in high numbers compared to competitor systems, so they are at a later stage of evolution."

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The company has invested in the refurbishment of its existing facility near Amsterdam to include a new "solutions centre" kitted out with a full range of digital print-on-demand (POD) equipment, as well as a series of meeting rooms. The site will also become Screen's European spares centre.

The new Luton base, which has retained 34 staff, will continue to provide the same sales, helpdesk, spares and support services across the UK. Screen has recruited four new members of staff for its Netherlands operations, to replace UK staff that did not want to relocate.

Screen Europe president Brian Filler said that the move reflected the transition of its products from CTP to POD. "In the past we were selling hundreds of units at €100,000 each where we could afford to have multiple demo centres across Europe, but now we sell tens of units at €1.5m it becomes more difficult to keep that value of equipment on the books. It changes the whole structure of what we do."

"No-one really needs to see CTP demos any more and if they do we can just take them to any number of customers that have them, but if someone wants to see a POD device then they need to travel to the European showroom to see it but that is nothing out of the ordinary."

The Mimaki JV5 roll-to-roll printer is available in four- or six-colour configurations, has a maximum speed of 50sqm per hour and is offered with a choice of HS3 or SS21 solvent and ES3 eco-solvent inks.

Heckford opted for SS21 outdoor-durable solvent inks, which do not require pressroom ventilation and are supplied in two-litre ‘eco-sacks' delivered in 100% recyclable packaging.

Pressroom manager at the circa 50-staff company Pawel Dunaj said that with the new inks, the upgrade provided a more comfortable working environment than with the HS3 inks used with the older model and was far more efficient.

"The new JV5 with bulk SS21 inks has been a real improvement for us. I can safely say there are almost no fumes or odour and we no longer need a carbon filter," he said. "The bulk ink system is also useful because we don't need to replace the inks as often."

Dunaj said one of the machine's highlights was that it enabled the company, which specialises in high-quality vinyl, signage, exibition and interior and exterior displays, to produce PVC banners at 40sqm per hour "at great quality".

I-sub Digital director Andy Spreag said: "It is a great testament to the JV5 printer that a respected company like Heckford has chosen to purchase the same machine as they did six years ago.

"It demonstrates that Mimaki JV5 technology is still offering fantastic print quality at the fast production speeds normally associated with grand-format machines."

As part of the growth plan Gary Egan has joined as production manager, Andy Webb has been appointed to project manage a number of key client events and Steven Silverton joined to head up Rocket's newly created retail division.

The firm is also looking to further boost its installation teams and artwork studio later this year.

The appointments follow the Watford firm taking on an additional factory unit over Christmas 2012, doubling its floor space. This enabled it to install a raft of refurbished kit, including a 3.2m-wide EFI Vutek QS3200 UV flatbed, two Mimaki JV5 series roll-to-roll printers, and a Zünd G3 digital cutter.

"We've started to do a lot work in sport hospitality branding, which increasingly involves temporary walls wrapped with large-format graphics rather than the traditional, build, skin and paint structures," said Porter.

"The market seems to be growing and growing and the QS is perfect for that type of work because it enabled us to produce high-quality wraps up to 3.2m wide and most of the walls are up to 3m."

High-profile events the company has worked on this year include the Champions League Final at Wembley, Silverstone and the Paris Air Show. It also has a strong presence in the retail sector.

The company also installed a refurbished 5m-wide HP Scitex solvent printer last year, which according to Porter enabled it to offer grand-format printer and gain a foothold in the fascia market.

The company is now mulling an investment in a second grand-format press.

The business is on track to achieve £4.2m in sales this year, compared to £3.3m last year and the company is targeting £5m next year. According to Porter, just as importantly the firm has so far maintained margin as it has grown.

Once we got through £3m, which we had been trying to achieve for a number of years, it signalled a real step change in the business. We were lucky to get the services of ex-Service Graphics finance director David Wicks, who came on board to help drive growth and without him we might not have seen all these opportunities or grasped them," said Porter.

Wicks joined the business last April in a business development/finance role and helped Porter create a three-year growth plan.

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The Vutek joins PressOn's arsenal of latex printers, an HP LX850, HP LS6500 and HP L25500, and its HPZ6100 and DuPont Cromaprint 22UV UV-curable large format printers.

The machine was chosen for its in-line multi-layer print capability and greyscale technology with variable droplets and for its ability to print pure white ink on coloured substrates. The Vutek will be linked to PressOn's existing GMG colour management software.

Joint founding managing director of PressOn, Andy Wilson commented: "Our customers have always insisted upon high quality print from us, but the demand for the absolute best image quality has become more and more evident. To continue to satisfy customers in this higher premium market we needed a machine that was flexible, could print on any substrate even on heavily textured materials. With the tight deadlines our customers need, high production speeds were extremely important too."

Robin East, sales and marketing director at supplier CMYUK added: "Combining true greyscale capability with a very wide colour gamut is complemented by the Vutek QS2 Pro's versatility on rigid and flexible materials, plus its optimised ink usage for lower costs per print."

PressOn reported that further investments would be made later this month to complete this investment phase. Company turnover, which increased by 38% from 2011 to 2012, is expected to increase by 10% per annum for the next three years as a result of the investments.

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This new motif very much builds on the previous three shows' themes of revolution, evolution and then application, explains Neil Felton, managing director of exhibitions and events. "First there were revolutionary new technologies, and then they evolved, then people became very much focused on applications and looking at the vast array of ways wide-format print could be used," he says. "Now people are actually solidifying further what the revolution and evolution means to them so they're deciding where the destination is."

Many of the show's new features are geared around helping people understand how to apply the innovations of recent years to their own businesses, explains Felton.

First there's the new Jet Set Conference schedule. This will address key areas of opportunity for printers including those in digital textile, digital printing, business building skills and industrial printing, and has a confirmed line-up of industry figure-heads such as Paul Noble of Banner Box, Nick Del Verme of Advanced Digital Textiles, Nick Devine (AKA The Print Coach) and Melanie Bowles from Chelsea College of Art.

Then printers would be well-advised to take a stroll down the show's new Inspiration Runway, says Felton, where they‘ll see examples of innovative print, along with case study details of how they were created in a whole range of formats, including interior design, garments, printed electronics, outdoor, screen print effects, instore and augmented reality. "There's going to be a massive array of different types of applications there; some really interesting things," promises Felton.

On-hand to offer more specific inspiration will be the Pilot's Briefing Zone and Fespa Fabric, both providing expert advice for those considering branching out into garment production.

Inspiring exhibits

But it won't all be about printers gaining application advice. Many of the show's features are also geared towards inspiring brand owners about what sorts of innovative print they might harness to enhance their brands. Joining the Inspiration Runway in doing this will be the Creative Corner area it leads into, where a range of seminars on packaging, instore graphics, interiors, outdoor and super large-format print will aim to inspire designers, creatives and brand owners and open up relationships between them and printing companies.

"Our biggest frustration as a federation is that often creatives don't realise there are so many different ways print can be used," says Felton. "So the Creative Corner is where we as a federation are trying to engage with the printer's customer and the wider market out there to say ‘print can be inspiring, there are so any fascinating ways you can involve print.' We've got Coca-Cola, Unilever, TBWA, some really leading agencies talking about how print can be used."

Fespa's aim, then, is that no one -whether printer or brand owner - leave the show without renewed faith in innovative print. Hopefully really sealing the deal will be the more entertaining aspects of the show, the Wrap Cup Masters Series and Fespa's Hall of Fame. The former will see vehicle wrappers from around the world go head to head. The latter will include inspirational details about those such as Rich Thompson, credited with the idea of perforating vinyl for graphic application purposes.

Of course while the Hall of Fame celebrates printing legends, there'll be plenty of printing history made each day in the exhibition halls. While the show theme might have moved on from ‘revolution' some time ago, there'll as ever be no shortage of -hopefully revolutionary- product launches.

Many of these are still under wraps until show kick-off. Press launches that are already creating a buzz though, are a new Screen Truepress Jet wide-format printer, two new additions to the Agfa Anapurna and Jeti families, and a new Skyjet UV Flatmaster flatbed Model 3020.

And there'll be plenty of new and recent launches on show elsewhere. Zünd will no doubt as usual be creating a stir, this time around with the introduction of the Zünd Cut Center 2.0 software suite. And fellow post-press vendors Graphtec will be introducing new additions to its Silhouette desktop cutter range.

Though there's always a danger that presses will steal the show, those showcasing consumable wares should also be given a look. Lightbox acrylics, laser transfer paper, wall fleeces and fluorescent inks: the list of new ink and substrate developments is pretty much endless, and could prove key to satisfying particularly ambitious and creative clients.

Taking stock of all of this, printers will be starting to get a sense of the scale of the show. "The main show is an absolutely massive event. Barcelona was pretty big, but this is almost double the size so it's a different type of event," confirms Felton.

"It's also going to be bigger than last time we did a big, not-just-digital show, in Munich," he adds, reporting that visitor registration is currently up 8% on 2010's show.

Particularly large crowds are expected thanks to the show's handy location, he adds. Though UK printers might have welcomed the chance to jet abroad for this year's Fespa, a London location has apparently helped secure a genuinely international crowd.

"London is truly international because it's so easy to get to from so many places," says Felton.

"India is prominent in the pre-registrations; the Asian region is very prominent; the US is very prominent because they see the UK as a stepping stone into Europe. So it's a very broad church with regard to visitors compared to what it has been before."

UK printers should, then, be feeling pretty excited about this international extravaganza happening right on their doorsteps. For Felton, this brings a certain other recent high-profile event to mind.

"UK printers have the opportunity to come and see the number-one show in this field in the world," he sums up. "You've finally got something like the print Olympics coming to London."

Fespa essentials

Fespa conference schedule

Stand-by-stand guide: pre-media & software

Stand-by-stand guide: presses

Stand-by-stand guide: post-press

Stand-by-stand guide: consumables

Stand-by-stand guide: ancillaries

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The new machine uses a patented inkset that the company said had been specially formulated to give strong adhesion to difficult substrates, such as glass, acrylic and metal, without the need for a primer. According to the company, it is guaranteed not to chip when routed or cut. It can also be printed onto softer substrates, such as polypropylene, and then folded without cracking.

The KX5 employs the same next-generation 6 picolitre Konica Minolta 1024 printheads as can be found on the Jetrix 1212, which, according to Inktec, offer "photographic quality" and can print at up to 1,440dpi at speeds of up to 30sqm/hr.

It also features a multi-layer print function that enables users to schedule their print in layers instead of having to do multiple passes.

Inktec launched the KX5 in the US at the IFA show in April and one machine has since been installed at a US reseller, Seiko America. The list price for the new machine is around £90,000 depending on the specification.

"We were looking for something that would improve the range of services we can offer. Previously we might have had to outsource some work, with the addition of the Arizona we can produce everything in house," said managing director Terry Veale.

Veale added that the company was initially only looking to secure funding for a 20% deposit from Finance Wales to complete a five-year lease on the Arizona, but the RDA offered to finance an outright purchase with a loan for a "six-figure sum".

"I wouldn't exactly describe it as a pain free process, but when you take into consideration the amount of money, I would like to think that if you're fully prepared with all the information then it's a fairly straightforward process. It's probably no worse than trying to get bank funding to be fair, and I don't think I would have got a 100% loan from a bank either," said Veale.

He added the whole process took around 10 weeks.

The Finance Wales funding came from the organisation's £150m Wales JEREMIE fund, which aims to encourage investment amongst Welsh micro and small businesses.

The Arizona 460XT features six ink channels, including white ink, and is capable of 21m/hr in production mode. It can handle rigid media up to 2,500x3,050mm and 50.8mm deep or rolls up to 2,190mm wide.

The Arizona is 1st Signs & Graphics first flatbed machine and prior to its installation six weeks ago the company would print estate agent boards on vinyl and then laminate them to the required substrate, whereas now they can print directly on to the boards.

Following the investment the £700,000 company is looking to recruit two more staff to its team of 17.

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EFI launched the Vutek GS3250LX UV-curing digital inkjet printer in 2011, as a "true breakthrough in high-speed super-wide inkjet printing technology".

It is vaunted as "a greener printing solution" that uses "cool cure" LED technology allowing the machine to consume less energy, increase printer uptime and reduce maintenance. The model is also available with regular mercury lamps.

"The standard UV versions can get quite hot but with these LED lamps there is less heat, less cooling time and a lot cheaper running costs. The LED technology also allows us to run thinner PVC and other materials without warping," said Ogle, who was a founder of nearby company Icon Graphics before starting his new business.

The new eight-staff company, whose customers include agencies for blue-chip clients, prints on self-adhesive PVC and foam-mix substrates for posters, displays and exhibition materials. Ogle said with the new investment he hoped to make a turnover of £1m in his first year.

"The main stand-out quality on the GS3250LX is speed; it runs at 90sqm per hour and can roll out an 8ft by 4ft foam display in under three minutes. I've used Vutek before and the print quality is unbeatable," said Ogle.

Other equipment at Format Graphics includes a Zünd 3m x 2m digital finishing machine and a 3m x 2m router.

Commenting on total sales for the GS3250LX since its 2011 launch, an EFI spokesman said that global figures were "healthy".

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"ZCC user interface and workflow suite is completely tailored to customers' needs," she said. "It integrates effortlessly with any production workflow and interactively guides the user through every phase of production finishing."

Zünd Cut Center 2.0 is designed for preparing and processing cutter-ready digital cut files. Files from all widely-used RIPs and nesting programs can be processed, without going through any additional file preparation saving time and money, she said.

Another feature on the stand at Fespa will be a tandem vacuum system, a material-handling option available for the Zünd's G3 and S3 cutters, which allows for loading of sheets and boards during production.

UK sales director Peter Giddings said: "We are excited about some of the new features of Zünd Cut Centre 2.0, which we believe will be of interest to anyone just setting out on the digital cutting and finishing road as well as our existing users."

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The Latex 3000's 77sqm/hr and 120sqm/hr speeds, for indoor and outdoor applications respectively, have solved this issue, added Rixon.

According to HP, this boosted productivity is down to improved curing technology allowing substrates to move through the machine faster.

The new printer also boasts improved cost-effectiveness, scratch resistance, ink capacity and roll handling capabilities.

"As well as having the six colours, our third generation latex inks also have an ink optimiser, a transparent almost seventh ink that is laid down before the other inks to make these adhere to the surface even better," said Rixon.

She added: "You're able to use heavier rolls on the Latex 3000 than you could on the previous 850. You've also got larger capacity, five-litre cartridges."

The current line-up of HP latex printers includes the L26500 and L28500, and the LX600, 820 and 850.

HP said it had no plans to update these models to make them compatible with its new third generation latex ink. The models will however become part of a newly rebranded ‘HP Latex' family, equivalent to HP's Designjet and Scitex series.

"Other manufacturers are bringing out latex technology but there are a number of differences between the formulation of those inks and in HP's machines.

"So we want to make it very clear what we mean when we talk about latex, which is completely water-based technology. There are no hazardous components in that ink," explained Rixon.

The HP Latex 3000 will be commercially available in August and will be priced at £230,000.

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The flat-bed prints onto media up to 3.14m x 1.6m (123.6in x 63in) and up to 50mm (2in) thick. It can be ordered as a four or six-colour model, offers 1200dpi, and prints up to 310m2/hr, equating to 62 full-bed sheets per hour.

Applications for the printer will include backlit cosmetics displays, fashion displays and other closely-viewed graphics, said Inca.

New York City-based Duggal Visual Solutions is the first beta test partner of the Inca Onset Q40i. Chief executive Michael Duggal said with clientele that tended to "push creative boundaries" the company was expert at dealing with industry demands.

"We have years of experience assessing which machines are capable of satisfying and exceeding those demands," he added.

Heather Kendle, marketing director at Inca Digital, said that Inca and Fujifilm were expecting the machine to generate significant interest at Fespa.

She said: "With an output quality comparable to offset litho married with Inca Digital's on-going commitment to delivering flexible, high-productivity solutions, we believe that the Onset Q40i will attract considerable attention."

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The company said in its statement that it would not be committing further capital at that time, although remained supportive of the venture.

Its outlook for Europe was also cautious although the company was confident in the future of its N600i colour inkjet label press, the first of which was sold in January, as well as its K600i black and white overprinting system.

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The group has also added Veramax inkjet inks, designed for Epson Stylus Pro machines, to its supply base. These are available in either 220ml cartridges or in bulk formats and are claimed to offer "significant savings" over buying the original products.

Nustream claim that the 220ml offers up to 40% savings while the bulk units are said to offer up to 70% savings.

Nustream Europe business development manager Colin Taylor, said: "We believe these products offer unrivalled value for money without compromising on quality."

Canadian soft proofing developer and supplier Nustream Graphic made its inroads into the UK market with the formation of Nustream Europe in late 2010.

Nustream Europe handles the distribution and development of its Proofstream products, as well as a number of digital presses, CTP, inks and workflows.

The group is encouraging users to switch to IBF plates or Veramax inks by offering them 12 months free use of the Proofstream online collaborative proofing software, which it values at more than £1200.

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