Autobond has identified a gap in the market and moved rapidly to fill it. According to managing director John Gilmore, the majority of spot varnish work (95% to be precise) is applied over matt lamination film. That alone answers the question of why a firm known for its laminators and latterly UV flood coaters should get into the market for a digital spot UV coater.
Gilmore was made aware of the potential of inkjet technology for short-run spot UV at the last Drupa in 2008. A chance encounter with a visitor in a bar in the Aldstadt led to a conversation about something they'd seen that impressed them at the show. The machine in question was the FFEI Emblaze - an inkjet-based digital spot coater.
With his understanding of the finishing market, Gilmore could see where a digital spot coater could fit into the market. "Spot UV over matt film is normally done these days using screen printing," he says. "And you'd normally laminate in-house and then outsource the spot UV to a specialist trade finisher."
The problem with that is that outsourcing the spot UV adds time and cost to the process, and it's not cost-effective for the increasing volume of digital print and short runs.
Autobond knew that there was a demand for spot UV coating, because since it launched its first hybrid UV flood coating and laminating machine a couple of years ago, the same question kept cropping up: "If it can flood coat, can it spot coat?" In that instance, the answer was no, but now, with the SUV, the firm has a machine that can.
Positive response
The main market for spot-UV-over-matt laminate is book covers and jackets, which is one application Autobond has in its sights, but there's also been a lot of interest from all manner of digital printers around the world. Gilmore says that the initial announcement resulted in more than 100 emails expressing an interest in the machine. He was surprised by the positive reaction and it's presented the firm with a small problem: it normally likes to get a printer to test any new machine for several months on the quiet before launch but, in this case, it hasn't been able to. However, he expects the unit at Ipex to make its way to a UK printer for a thorough testing straight after the show later this month.
While Fuji's Emblaze attracted the interest at Drupa and inspired Autobond to develop its machine, it's an interesting turn of fate that the Japanese giant isn't showing it at Ipex and has yet to commit to commercialise it, never mind give precise details of pricing and availability.
In the meantime, Autobond, a small company making laminators in Derbyshire, has stolen a march and developed and launched its own product inside two years.
Latest LED technology
The potential of UV-cured inkjet really captured Gilmore's imagination, so he approached two sets of British inkjet boffins to help him make his dream reality. Cambridge-based Xaar provided the printheads and Oxfordshire-based Integration Technologies helped to knit the printheads and UV-curing lamps together to provide a working machine.
The SUV uses the latest LED UV lamps. The LEDs last 12 times as long as standard UV lamps, consume 20% of the power and, because of the way they work, don't generate any ozone. That means a pleasant working environment and no need for the added complication and cost of an ozone extraction system to go alongside the machine.
Although conceived to spot coat matt laminated film, the SUV can spot coat un-laminated sheets too. It's been designed as a standalone module that can either work inline with the laminator or on its own. Gilmore expects plenty of demand from existing users who want to use the SUV to provide additional capabilities. There's no reason why it can't operate with other manufacturers' laminators too.
The speed of the SUV is 30m per minute which, if you're handling B3 sheets in portrait orientation, means it can handle more than 3,000 sheets per hour (sph).
Gilmore says there is definitely a demand for a B2 version (52cm-wide) and he can also see applications for 76cm and 105cm machines to suit Autobond's full range of laminators. Theoretically, it's possible to stitch any number of heads together to cover any width. However, for now, the company is focused on getting the B3 machine up and running, and is poised to reveal the details of the business that will get the first machine to test. Autobond has already investigated the economics of a B2 machine, and reckons it'll be about 20% more expensive than the B3.
To cover the 36cm width, the SUV uses five Xaar printheads side-by-side to form an array that applies the coating in a single pass as sheets pass underneath it. So far, the software to drive the machine is basic and set up for short-runs rather than personalisation, although Gilmore claims that, in time, Autobond will incorporate personalisation for customers.
Growing in popularity
There's no doubt that adding varnish effects to digital print is becoming hot news. Kodak pioneered its use with a clear toner in the NexGlosser unit for its NexPress several years ago, while Canon was the first to include it within a printer with the C1+ launched at Drupa 08. More recently, Xerox announced the Color 800/1000 machine, which has an optional varnish or clear toner, that can be used to add a variety of effects.
While these systems add some protection to the print and offer a range of effects, they don't provide the protection of a laminate – which is still an issue with lots of digital print – and they don't have the flexibility to handle pre-printed litho stock too. With the launch of the Xerox Color 800/1000, EFI has added functions in its Fiery RIP to handle the varnish, which will help develop the workflow and the application of digital varnish effects, hopefully benefiting the whole market and not just Xerox customers.
Therefore, Autobond's main rivals are other inkjet-based spot coaters. The most established is French firm MGi with its JetVarnish, while others have yet to be commercialised. Fuji hasn't confirmed when the Emblaze will be available commercially, but Israeli firm Scodix has appeared slightly out of left field to launch its first machine, also showing at Ipex. Another alternative is the DryPrint. If you're not doing personalisation, it's worth a look as it's a low-cost and versatile machine that can print spot colours as well as apply spot UV varnish.
Price for the SUV has yet to be finalised, but is expected to be around the £65,000 mark. That makes the machine more expensive than the established MGi JetVarnish, but significantly cheaper than the prices so far indicated by Fuji and Scodix. Granted it's smaller, but Gilmore's estimate that the extra width to handle B2 will add about 20% to the price suggests, it will still be much cheaper. It's also significantly faster than the JetVarnish or the Scodix.
As for the cost of the coating, Autobond has yet to reveal the price per litre but, as most spot varnish covers at most 5% of a job, Gilmore says the price per job will be "pennies".
All in all, Autobond's heritage in, and understanding of, the post-press market, has enabled it to come out with a machine that offers compelling price and performance and could be the breakthrough product that defines the digital spot coating market.
SPECIFICATIONS
Max sheet size 360x570mm
Paper weight 90-650gsm
Speed 3,000sph
Price around £65,000
Contact Autobond 01773 530 520 www.autobondlaminating.com
ALTERNATIVES
Dryprint
Dryprint isn’t digital and it wasn’t even originally designed as a coater or a UV-cured machine. But the clever British firm took a duplicator, added UV curing to improve the image colour and then figured that a clear UV ink was a kind of spot colour, albeit one without any colour. The machine was well received when it got its first outing at least year’s Northprint exhibition.
Max sheet size 460x320mm
Stock weight 80-340gsm
Speed 6,000sph
Price £39,950
Contact Dryprint 01264 320900 www.dryprint.com
MGI JetVarnish
The JetVarnish handles a larger format (B2) and can cope with a wider range of substrates than the Autobond. Designed to process book covers, brochures, packaging, folders, business cards, it uses piezo drop-on-demand inkjet heads and ozone-free UV drying technology.
Max sheet width 520x740mm
Stock weight 135-600gsm
Speed 30m/min
Price n/s
Contact MGi +33 1 45 21 06 60 www.mgi-ipex.com
Scodix 1200
Scodix is an Israeli firm set up by former HP engineers to develop a digital embosser and spot coater for short-run and personalised finishing. Like the Autobond, it uses UV-cured inkjet technology. Where it differs from the SUV is in laying down a coating up to 100 microns thick, which the company claims allows it to create 3D effects. Applications include Braille printing, spot varnishing and relief images for short runs without the need to create dies.
Max sheet size 500x707mm
Stock weight 135-500gsm
Speed 1,200sph (A3)
Price £217,000
Contact Image2Output 01707 282 71 www.image2output.com
