InkTec enters superwide market with Jetrix RX3200

InkTec has launched its first superwide device, the 3.2m UV roll-to-roll Jetrix RX3200, and is planning a 5m device as it targets a push into outdoor and high-volume production.

At 3.2m wide, the Jetrix RX3200 is more than a metre wider than any of InkTec's existing machines, which are all flatbed devices with roll-to-roll options rather than dedicated roll-to-roll printers.

The Jetrix RX3200 is equipped with 16 Konica Minolta KM series 14pL printheads and is available in four-colour (four printheads per colour) and eight-colour (two printheads each: CMYK, light cyan, light magenta, light yellow and light black) configurations.

Maximum print resolution is 1,440dpi while output speed ranges from 36sqm/hour in highest quality mode to 169sqm/hr in maximum productivity mode, for the four-colour device (the eight-colour machine is approximately 40% slower).

InkTec UK sales manager Ben Woodruff said: "It was a natural step for us [as a manufacturer] because it's a growing market and it makes sense for us to have different machines for different sectors.

"We've been monitoring [the superwide market] since about 2011 and it's been growing at 25% year-on-year. We're launching the 3.2m RX3200 first but we will be launching a 5m RX5000 most likely later this year as you have to have both those bases covered.

"Our factory is of the opinion the 5m will be more popular than the 3m but we expect good sales of both sizes and we already have two customers lined up for the RX3200, one of which is already a Jetrix customer but the other isn't."

The first Jetrix RX3200 will be installed in the UK at the start of March, with the second following towards the end of the same month.

Features on the superwide device include a winding system for heavy media, an option to load multiple rolls on the feed to print at the same time, and an automatic nozzle cleaning function.

List price for the Jetrix RX3200 has yet to be confirmed although Woodruff said it would be "competitive" and would likely fall somewhere in the £150,000 to £250,000 range.

The Jetrix RX3200 will be shown at Fespa 2015 in Cologne, Germany from 18-22 May following its debut at Sign & Digital UK in March.