At drupa 2012 the printing world was bedazzled by the showing of the first all-new technology to hit the market for decades – Landa Nanographic Printing. The promise, revealed in Düsseldorf was for faster, cleaner, more colorful and cheaper digital printing; delivered in show-business style by master presenter Benny Landa himself – the progenitor of all modern digital printing via his Indigo digital offset invention, later sold to HP who still enjoys stellar success with it.
Following a virtual lock-down period as Landa’s team has worked around the clock to re-engineer the presses and get ready for the next drupa, in June 2016, Benny Landa opens the hatches in this exclusive interview with industry analyst and consultant Andy McCourt.
For over two decades, his name has been a consistent feature in the development of modern digital printing technology. He’s nowinto hissecond round of disruptive invention; having cashed in and sold thewildly successful Indigo to Hewlett Packard in 2002.
He reaches out; he talks directly like a real person and not in mystical corporate-speak; he puts on great shows, literally with song and dance as we saw at drupa 2012. But behind the razzamatazz there is Benny the businessman; Benny the inventor and holder of over 800 patents; Benny the thinker. He’s a team player but a leader too. In 2012 he set targets for the commercialization of Landa Nanography that he has failed to meet. But, there’s never been a new technology delivered on-time; as the poet Robert Browning wrote, “Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for?”
Development is admittedly well behind schedule and involves a major re-engineering of the Nanographic presses he showed in 2012. He has also re-focused on the target markets, brought in a new minority investor, German chemical firm Alanta, while deepening his partnership with Komori, which is not only a licensee but also supplier of the press’s sheet transport system. He continues to partner with EFI for the front-end while adding a conventional UV coater in finishing and AVT for print inspection. After US$ 250 million in investment and over 1,000 man-years of sweat, here is Benny Landa opening up as only he can; forthrightly, honestly, pragmatically but still with that showman’s glint in his eyes.
A McC: Let’s start with the Nanographic technology – a major engineering makeover of the Landa S10 B1 sheetfed has just been announced with its weight rising from around 10 to 30 tonnes and length to over 17 metres. How will this affect the pricing projected at drupa 2012? Will TCO still be similar?
BL: Landa shares its pricing with its LOI (Letter of Intent) customers but not with the public so I can’t offer specific details. However, I can confirm that the attractiveness of the TCO (Total Cost of Operation) and BEP (Break Even Point) versus offset is maintained with our new, larger Landa S10 press.
A McC: The Landa S10 press is looking more like an offset press in proportions: – is most of the additional 20 tonnes in Komori paper handling?
BL: Yes, the main reason for the weight increase is the enhanced paper handling system as well the addition of the coating unit. You could conclude that our press offers the brains of digital and the brawn of offset.
A McC: The focus seems to be on the Landa S10 press – is this because it will be ready for market before the other LDP models?
BL: Following drupa 2012, we evaluated our priorities based on the needs of our LOI customers. Two things were readily apparent: the first was that our customers are interested in the wide B1 (40 inches / 1050 millimetre) platform used by the Landa S10, W10 and also the 560 mm W50 press. The second was that sheetfed is a high priority for the market. These two aspects led us to focus on the Landa S10 press as our first product.
A McC: With the addition of an optional UV coater – is this unit a nonNanographic one using available technology? Or does it use a clear NanoInk?
BL: The coating unit on the Landa S10 press is a standard analog unit that uses standard coating materials.
A McC: The market focus of the Landa S10 press appears to favoursingle-sided packaging, particularly folding cartons. Is thiscorrect or will we also see a doublesided Landa S10 press for general commercial printing at drupa 2016?
BL: The first Landa S10 will be a single-sided press focusing on the folding carton, litho-lam and POP/POS markets. The double-sided Landa S10 will be our second press and will serve mostly commercial printers. We will exhibit both products at drupa 2016
A McC: The new delivery-end ‘cockpit’ looks impressive . . . will this also feature on the S5 (B3) and S7(B2) models?
BL: The Landa S7 and S5 presses are further down our roadmap and I am not able to share more information about them at the current time.
A McC: It looks like the web models, like the Landa W10 press,retain the giant touch-screen on the side of the press – is this the case?
BL: Our teams are currently evaluating the industrial design of the Landa W10 and W50 presses and we will update the market when appropriate.
A McC: The Landa W10 and W50 presses look to still be reel-to-reel machines. Is there progress on in-line converting, particularly for labels?
BL: As I mentioned before, we are currently looking at all aspects and specifications of the Landa W50 press. We will update the market when we are able to be more specific.
A McC: The Nano Ink cmyk gamut is far beyond the offset one and yet there is still an option for +OVG, making seven colors – do you envisage that, forthe packaging markets, the 7-colorconfiguration will prove to be more popular, as it has done for HP Indigo?
BL: We expect that the Landa 7- color system will cover 85% or more of the Pantone space. The customers and brands with whom we have already spoken are confident that our 7-color solution will be a good alternative for the special color system used today with offset and flexo presses.
A McC: Will all LDP models be released forsale simultaneously or will we see a staged approach as each one ramps up into production?
BL: Landa is taking a staged approach for releasing our presses. This will ensure that our presses meet the expectations of our customers and that the products are mature when launched.
A McC: The recent 100 million Euro Altana investment is interesting;can you reveal what percentage of LDP Altana now owns?
BL: Landa is still a privately held company and we do not share this level of detail regarding the ownership of the company. I can share that Altana is a minority investor.
A McC: Why Altana?
BL: Altana is a leading vendor through their divisions BYK (additives and instrumentation), Actega (coatings) and Eckart (metallic pigments) and possess a wealth of worldwide manufacturing expertise. Since they are not direct competitors with Landa or its other partners, it’s a win-win situation for everyone.
A McC: Altana is a speciality chemicals company . . . do they see cross-benefits to them in LDP’s Nanotechnology R&D oris it purely an investment in printing?
BL: Altana is confident that Nanography is a game-changing technology that can enable the printing industry to thrive in the 21st century. In addition, Altana sees this investment as a starting point for a long-term strategic partnership in which synergistic collaboration between Altana and Landa can lead to further developments for the printing industry.
A McC: Will Altana’s manufacturing expertise be put to use in setting up NanoInk manufacturing plants?
BL: Altana offers a lot of manufacturing expertise that we will put to use. We are committed to providing a continuous supply of ink and blankets from our facilities in Israel and we plan additional ink plants for the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific.
A McC: Could, for example, Altana’s Eckhart technology provide metallic effect capability to LDP machines?
BL: This is just one possibility. There’s no real need to speculate as I cannot confirm any concrete plans at this stage.
A McC: Is it likely Altana will increase its investment in LDP, or that you will invite other investors in?
BL: Right now we have the investment that we need to meet our commercialization plans and do not intend to seek any third-party financing.
A McC: Looking forward to the first beta presses in the second-half of 2015: will these be S10 models, and where geographically will they be installed?
BL: Yes, the first betas will be for the single-sided Landa S10 press. They will be located in Israel, North America and Europe.
A McC: On partner OEM incorporation of Landa Nanographictechnology. . . is the list of press manufacturers still as it was announced at drupa 2012?
BL: Our partnership with Komori has progressed at an excellent pace, deepening over time. One key reason is that Komori has been able to meet the high levels of financial and other commitments which we require of our licensee-partners. Not all OEMs are presently able to make such financial commitments, especially in light of their own business challenges. Perhaps, as the market improves and there is a turnaround in the fortunes of press vendors, we will be able to expand the list of active licenseepartners.
A McC: We saw amazing scenes on LDPs 2012 stand with standing-room only, queues and outside broadcasts – it’s likely this will be repeated in 2016. Will all of LDP’sresources be inside Messe Düsseldorf or do you think a press will be operating at a nearby printer forsite visits?
BL: Though our detailed plans for drupa 2016 are not yet final, we do expect very high levels of customer interest – which is one reason we nearly doubled our stand size. Although we will have presses at customer sites well before drupa, it’s too early to tell whether it will be possible to host such site visits.
A McC: It is understood that the road to commercialization of radical new technology takes quite a while; how do you feel about being 100% ready to go-tomarket by June 2016 when the doors of the show open?
BL: It goes without saying that, having gone through it with Indigo, we are fully aware of the challenges of bringing new technology to the market. Nanography has already been over ten years in development and indeed there are still challenges ahead. However, the pieces are all in place: a great robust core technology, very strong market demand, an extraordinarily talented and committed team and the financial resources to go the course. We are therefore confident that the challenges will be met and we will emerge from drupa leading the market.
A McC: Will you be presenting the shows yourself again Benny?
BL: I love presenting our technology to customers and I certainly look forward to doing so at the next drupa as well. But you know, when it comes to drupa, there are always surprises; drupa 2016 will be no exception.
A McC: Many thanks, Benny Landa.
