Durst has officially launched the P5 SMP press that it previewed as a prototype at last year’s drupa show. The Super Multi-Pass is aimed at the sign and display, POS, corrugated packaging, and display markets, as well as industrial décor printing for things such as wood panel decoration and metal boards.
It’s based on the P5 design, which is Durst’s platform for the wide-format market. As such, it’s a hybrid design that can be configured for either roll-fed or rigid boards up to 50 mm thick. Currently, two formats can be loaded simultaneously, but in its final stage, it should be possible to load up to four formats at the same time. It has a printing width of 3.5m for boards and will take rolls up to 3.47m wide.
As the name suggests, it has been designed to maximize volume and can produce up to five million square meters per year. The maximum productivity of the P5 SMP is 1,940 square meters an hour or 340 boards per hour, assuming a board size of 3.2 × 1.6 metres. This speed is at just one pass, which is not the same as a single pass. That would imply a page-wide array with just the media moving. This is still a scanning design, with the head carriage moving across the media for each swathe.
Nonetheless, wide-format printers are becoming so fast now that reducing the number of passes for the head carriage is one of the few ways left to squeeze out more productivity. It’s worth noting that this is the same approach as taken by Inca Digital, now part of Agfa, for its Onset machines, though this is slower than the SMP at 1514 square meters an hour. As with the Onset, Durst has found that the most commonly used mode is two passes for better image quality.
As with the rest of the P5 range, it uses UV inks with LED curing. It can be configured with up to 10 color channels, which allows users to add white, orange and violet for a wider colour gamut, and light cyan and light magenta for smoother gradients, alongside the standard CMYK inks. Customers can start with a more limited set and then add further colors, up to a total of 10, in the field. That suggests that the printer comes with all the electronics and plumbing for all the channels. There are 30 printheads per channel.
The heads themselves are Ricoh Gen5, with a 7 picolitre drop size. Unusually, Durst has opted to run the heads in binary mode with a single drop size rather than in greyscale with variable drop sizes. The binary approach is faster, but lacks the ability to fill in details, and consequently, many users may find they need to add the light cyan and light magenta channels. There is a choice of resolution between 700 × 1200 dpi and 900 × 1200dpi, which is the same as the existing P5 350/HS. There is full recirculation down to the nozzle plate on the white ink channels.
Andrea Riccardi, director of Product Management Graphics & Textile, noted, “To unlock the full potential of the P5 SMP, automation is essential. Durst offers comprehensive solutions here – from feeders with buffering, to alignment tables, and stackers that enable unattended operation throughout an entire shift.”
To that end, it includes a number of features. The DSA, or Digital Substrate Alignment, system provides precise digital image registration with an accuracy of ±0.25 mm. This feature is particularly valuable for double-sided printing, ensuring perfect front-to-back alignment and accurate registration for guillotine and die-cut processes.
Then there is the “Automated Corrugated System” that ensures high production safety, especially in corrugated printing. The material is continuously and automatically kept flat, preventing edge lifting and reliably avoiding material collisions. It also includes Durst Workflow and Durst Analytics software packages.
Arian GmbH, based in Gleisdorf, Austria, which specializes in POS campaigns, ran the beta test. Robert Posch, chief production officer at ARIAN GmbH, stated, “We have tested over 200 materials in various formats on the P5 SMP. The short setup times and high level of automation help us manage this material mix in practice. With the P5 SMP, we have also expanded our production capacities and can respond to customer requests much faster – a decisive success factor in today’s sales environment.”
Riccardi concludes, “In the B2B sector, investment security is a top priority. With the P5 XT concept, we offer a platform that evolves on every level – a commitment we have made to our customers. This applies to productivity, reliability, and the exploration of new application areas. Our systems grow with our customers’ needs and will continue to deliver top performance every day in the future.”
The second installation, after the beta site, is due this month, with more installations to come in the next few weeks and months. You can find further details at durst-group.com.
