Inca enters B1 inkjet market

A new B1-format sheetfed inkjet printer from Inca Digital will be previewed at the upcoming Fespa show in Hamburg.

The as-yet-unnamed device will be sold by both Inca and its partner Fujifilm. It will be shown on the Fujifilm stand (B4L, E35) at Fespa.

The printer runs at up to 200sph and Inca said the initial target was short-run markets including point-of-purchase and commercial printing. It is based on the same platform as Inca’s existing Onset X and SpyderX wide-format devices.

The technical specification features eight print channels using Fujifilm Dimatix 7ng printheads, which Inca said allowed it to produce smooth images and “crisp text” down to 4pt size. It has two-stage UV curing with LED pinning on the print carriage, combined with a UV drier tunnel to provide a durable finish.

The modular device can be configured as a fully-automated setup with feeder and stacker, as well as options for manual and semi-automatic operation.

It can also print onto thicker substrates than is possible with conventional offset printing.

Inca Digital chief executive John Mills said it had been developed in response to market demand, and described it as “a robust B1 inkjet solution capable of printing shorter runs on-demand without compromise”.

“The productivity and quality of the new platform will give commercial and screen printers the confidence to take lower volume work off their commercial printers, increasing overall productivity and opening up potential new revenue streams in the process,” he stated.

Inca Digital is on stand A4, D51 at Fespa, where the manufacturer will reveal more details including the likely timings for commercial availability. Pricing was unavailable at the time of writing.  

Mills will also give a keynote presentation on the future of inkjet technology at Fespa, on 11 May.