Mutoh announces two new printers

Fespa update and triple anniversary for Mutoh

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Mutoh
Mutoh’s XpertJet 1682SR-Pro is a 1.6m wide eco-solvent printer complete with the latest Epson printheads. Photo credit: nessancleary.co.uk

Mutoh marked this year’s Fespa show with the introduction of two new printers, XpertJet 1682SR Pro and the XpertJet 1341WR Pro, which almost completes its switch from the old ValueJet brand. Both printers use Mutoh’s AccuFine printheads, which appear to be Epson PrecisionCore I-series heads.

The XPJ-1682SR-P is a revamped version of the existing XPJ-1682SR, with the main difference being that the Epson printheads have been upgraded to the latest PrecisionCore versions. As such, it’s a 1.6 meter-wide eco-solvent printer aimed at the sign and display market. It uses two of Epson’s I-3200 heads, which are arranged in a staggered configuration. Since these heads have four color channels each, this allows a choice of configurations with either two sets of CMYK or an eight color inkset of CMYK plus light cyan, light magenta, light black and orange. Mutoh claims that this new Pro version is up to 180% faster than the standard version, which is mainly due to the faster printheads.

It features Mutoh’s fourth generation Intelligent Interweaving technology, called I-Screen, which has been adapted to work with dual staggered printheads. Naturally, it also comes with Mutoh’s own VerteLith RIP software.

It’s compatible with Mutoh’s existing MS41 ink, as well as a brand new ink, MS51, which only comes with CMYK colors. This is a GBL-free ink that Mutoh says it has developed itself but which I believe has been developed with NuTec of South Africa. It’s main feature is that it dries very fast, which should allow for faster turnaround times.

The second new printer, the XPJ-1341WR Pro is a 127cm wide dye sublimation printer. It features a single AccuFine 1600 print head, which is really an Epson I-1600 head. In essence it appears to be a smaller, cheaper alternative to the existing XpertJet 1642WR Pro model, which is 162cm wide and uses two of those heads. Mutoh is quoting sellable production speeds up to 29.2 square meters an hour.

It uses Mutoh’s genuine DS3-series HC dye sub inks. HC stands for ‘Increased Colorant’ which means reduced ink consumption, faster drying and compatibility with lightweight papers. The DS-3 inks come in degassed 1 kilogram pouches for reliable jetting, excellent image definition and sharpness.

This year also marks a triple anniversary for Mutoh, with Mutoh Japan celebrating its 70th anniversary, Mutoh Germany its 50th while Mutoh Europe is 30 years old this year.

You can find more details on Mutoh’s range of printers from mutoh.eu

(This article is reprinted by permission from nessancleary.co.uk)

2023 promises an interesting ride for print in India

Indian Printer and Publisher founded in 1979 is the oldest B2B trade publication in the multi-platform and multi-channel IPPGroup. While the print and packaging industries have been resilient in the past 33 months since the pandemic lockdown of 25 March 2020, the commercial printing and newspaper industries have yet to recover their pre-Covid trajectory.

The fragmented commercial printing industry faces substantial challenges as does the newspaper industry. While digital short-run printing and the signage industry seem to be recovering a bit faster, ultimately their growth will also be moderated by the progress of the overall economy. On the other hand book printing exports are doing well but they too face several supply-chain and logistics challenges.

The price of publication papers including newsprint has been high in the past year while availability is diminished by several mills shutting down their publication paper and newsprint machines in the past four years. Indian paper mills are also exporting many types of paper and have raised prices for Indian printers. To some extent, this has helped in the recovery of the digital printing industry with its on-demand short-run and low-wastage paradigm.

Ultimately digital print and other digital channels will help print grow in a country where we are still far behind in our paper and print consumption and where digital is a leapfrog technology that will only increase the demand for print in the foreseeable future. For instance, there is no alternative to a rise in textbook consumption but this segment will only reach normality in the next financial year beginning on 1 April 2023.

Thus while the new normal is a moving target and many commercial printers look to diversification, we believe that our target audiences may shift and change. Like them, we will also have to adapt with agility to keep up with their business and technical information needs.

Our 2023 media kit is ready, and it is the right time to take stock and reconnect with your potential markets and customers. Print is the glue for the growth of liberal education, new industry, and an emerging economy. We seek your participation in what promises to be an interesting ride.

– Naresh Khanna

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