Inca could tap into new markets with inkjet web

Inca Digital has a prototype 1.6m-wide single-pass inkjet web press running at a development facility.

The Cambridge-headquartered inkjet developer has built the 305m/min press as a prototype for the 2.8m-wide model it will eventually supply to BHS as part of the partnership between Inca owner Screen and BHS Corrugated Maschinen to produce an inline corrugated printing solution.

It uses Fujifilm Samba heads. “We have had a lot of interest in this press from décor and offset printers,” said chief executive John Mills.

At the Fespa show in Hamburg, where Inca Digital is exhibiting independently for the first time and has a 3.2m-wide hybrid roll/flatbed SpyderX running on its booth, the firm also confirmed that its new 200sph B1 sheetfed inkjet press will be called the Onset M.

Mills said the price for an Onset M with automated delivery and stacker was likely to be around $500,000 (£385,000). Availability is slated for the September-October timeframe.

He emphasised that all of Inca’s products were about “a value proposition, not just price”.

“This company has been going for 17 years and 80% of our products are still printing,” he stated, highlighting the longevity and robustness of the firm’s printing systems.

He also said that the existing Onset range of wide-format devices had grown market share “significantly” this year. It has customers using the X3 device with robotic handling for industrial applications including printed metal sheets and plywood.

The Onset M is sold by Fujifilm under the working name of the B1PE7 and is being shown for the first time in the world on the Fujifilm booth at Fespa (B4L-E35).