European debut for Pitney Bowes Intellijet press at Ipex

Ipex 2010 will be the culmination of a $2.6bn (1.7bn) acquisition spree by Pitney Bowes to become an "end-to-end" solution for print and mail systems.

The company is taking its biggest ever stand at the tradeshow and will showcase its IntelliJet 30 Printing System – a tailored version of the HP T300 inkjet press for the transactional and transpromo markets.

"We had two of the necessary components: our inserters and software, including Group 1 and Emtex – partnering with HP to add the IntelliJet 30 completes the portfolio," said Pitney Bowes' Document Messaging Technologies vice-president Ian Davidson. "It's only Pitney Bowes that can offer a true end-to-end mailing solution."

Like several other players in the colour inkjet continuous feed market, the group also said it was looking to introduce more affordable machines for lower-volume users.

"The IntelliJet 30 is the first of a family of printers and it addresses the top end of the market," said Pitney Bowes business development director David Ireland. "There will be an expanded family."

Pitney Bowes had estimated the European market for the IntelliJet 30 to be around 150-200 systems, but with additional models, it predicts this could be a bigger market.

In addition, it will use the Ipex show in May to launch a four-colour envelope overprinting system.

"Forward-thinking organisations see any white space as real estate for sales and marketing," said Davidson. "Hence, the potential for envelope printing in full colour. Now the customer doesn't even have to open the envelope to be sold to."

The envelope-printing system, which was previewed at Drupa 08, is based on the same HP thermal inkjet technology as the IntelliJet, but with a lower resolution, 100mm-wide (4in) print swathe and the use of a quick-drying dye ink rather than the pigment inks used in the press. It can be retrofitted to Pitney Bowes' MPS inserters.

The company also revealed that it has completed its first sale of the IntelliJet 30, which was unveiled at Print 09, with a three-machine installation at a US healthcare payments company.

Ipex 2010 is due to be held on 18-25 May, 2010, at the Birmingham NEC.