EFI commercialises single pass for display

EFI Nozomi 18000+ LED: capable of 1,000 boards per hour
EFI Nozomi 18000+ LED: capable of 1,000 boards per hour

EFI is using Fespa to herald the commercial launch of its single pass, super-high-speed LED inkjet technology for display graphics, including synthetics, a move it said will significantly broaden the technology’s addressable applications.

Demos of the new EFI Nozomi 18000+ LED single-pass printer for point of sale and display graphics will be live-streamed from its New Hampshire facility to EFI’s Fespa stand (6.2-A20) for private viewings.

It will also be showing live-stream demos of a new 3.2m-wide high-speed hybrid shuttle-based ‘technology demonstration’ under non-disclosure agreements.

“When I meet customers they generally ask two things, how can I lower my costs and drive more efficiencies or what new technologies or applications I can do,” said Ken Hanulec, EFI VP of worldwide marketing.

“And those are the two things that all our new printers answer.”

Hanulec said the single-pass printer was based on the Nozomi 18000+ but fine-tuned for display with a number of special internal and external additions. The enhancements are retrofittable to existing machines.

The 1.8m wide 1,000 (1.5x3m) board per hour machine features pre- and post-coat units, CMYK with orange, violet and white capabilities, and can print on fibre-based and synthetic substrates. It can also be configured to run pallet-to-pallet.

Hanulec said the new machine would massively broaden the range of display products the Nozomi technology could print and enable users to “do things they currently can’t in order of magnitude of 5x to 10x”.

Hanulec added the first Nozomi 18000+ LED is already running at a customer in the US “to great success”.

The second has been sold to a Delta Group in the UK, it will be installed in the summer.

Taking centre stage in the live demos on the show floor will be the 3.5m-wide, 558sqm/hr EFI Vutek Q3r LED roll-to-roll printer, with the new UltraClear Coat option. UltraClear can run glossy or matte finish in either selective or flood modes.

Fespa will also be the pan-European launchpad for the new EFI Pro 30h hybrid 3.2m-wide printer which was unveiled at EFI Connect in January. Fiery Prep-it high-speed nesting software for sign and display, also shown at Connect, will also be on display along with EFI IQ cloud-based analytics suite and Fiery JobFlow workflow.

EFI Subsidiary Reggiani will also be exhibiting on its stand, showing its 1.8m-wide, 325sqm/hr Terra Gold direct-to-fabric, pigment ink printer.

“The Terra range is very popular right now given the big push around sustainability,” added Hanulec.