Speaking to PrintWeek at its open house event in Bedford, Fujifilm digital printing and press systems product manager Mark Stephenson said that although sales of the 2014-launched model had been a bit slow to get off the ground in the UK, three further installations were set to take place at what he said were all “general commercial printers”, bringing the UK total to five so far.
Leicester-based Greenshires Group this week became the second printer to install the machine and Warwickshire-based Emmerson Press was the first to take one, installed just before Drupa.
Stephenson said: “It’s unusual because things normally get picked up in the UK first but with the Jet Press it seems to have taken off in Europe first.”
Of the 80 Jet Press 720S models installed worldwide so far, the majority have been installed in Japan, with around 20 in Europe.
“It all changed around Drupa time or just before when Emmerson signed up and we had such a bold message on the stands,” added Stephenson.
“I think it took us a bit of time to realise what people want from a B2 inkjet press. We were taking the Jet Press to digital printers at first and saying, ‘You’ve got B3, now it’s time for B2’. People were looking at it and scratching their heads. But now we are going to litho printers and we are saying that here is an alternative to short-run work where the quality doesn’t suffer.”
The £995,000-listed Jet Press prints at 2,700sph simplex at a resolution of up to 1,200dpi using Fujifilm Dimatix Samba printheads. It handles sheet sizes ranging from 545x394mm to 750x532mm.
Fujifilm also used the open house to give its Acuity LED 3200R UV wide-format printer its first commercial UK showing, after it was launched at Drupa.
The 110sqm/hr 3200R is an OEM version of the Mimaki UJV55-320 and comes with eight ink channels as standard: CMYK, light cyan, light magenta, white and clear gloss.
Fujifilm wide-format product solutions manager Steve Cookman said: “It is early days but we are in a position to place this in certain sites. Fuji has recognised an individual requirement for a large-width machine and has embraced a Mimaki product.”
A fortnight ago, Fujifilm also launched its new Acuity Select 30 HS series of printers, which follow on from the Fespa-launched Acuity 20 series. These were not being shown at the open house.
The event, running from 27 to 29 September, is due to be attended by around 50 UK customers and is showing a range of Fujifilm products.
Stephenson added: “We did something at the end of last year that acted as an informal open house and it worked well. A big exhibition like Drupa is impressive but this is where the real conversations happen, people get the time to sit down and talk and come along to see something they had never even thought was possible.”
