Graphic Arts Magazine July / August 2019 | Page 19

Cover Story
printers respectively, with print sizes
going up to 98.4” x 120”. On the heavy-
duty side, the Onset X3 from Fujifilm
stands out. With a size of 126.8” x 63”
and a throughput of 9,600 ft²/hr it is
one of the most productive printers. On
the side of roll fed printers, manufacturers
have recently launched their super-wide
printers reaching up to five meters
(198”) in width with speeds reaching
nearly 3,800 ft²/hr with up to eight ink
channels. Fujifilm just launched their
Acuity Ultra line of printers and EFI
counts the Matan 5 in their portfolio as
their widest unit. Size, quality and speed
clearly opened the door to additional
applications and business opportun-
ities. Expect this trend to continue.
5. Customization, versioning and variable
data are gaining importance
The digitization of wide-format has
created many new oppor tunities
ranging from customization to versioning
to the use of variable data. In an earlier
paragraph we touched on the example
of woven wallpaper. It is perfectly
feasible to customize your own unique
wallpaper. The same could apply to
textiles, or even vehicle wrapping.
The digital aspect gives you endless
customization opportunities. Versioning
is another capability inherent to digital
printing. In one example the printer
supplied the client with identical outdoor
displays, but produced different versions
based on the geographical location of
each franchise store. The price shown on
each display was different based on the
location. The next level beyond versioning
is the variability of each wide-format
printed piece, from changing text and
numbers to changing images.
We see this trend continuing and
more clients taking advantage of
this capability.
6. Automation increases productivity
More recently we have seen an accelerated
pace of automation of the production
process. In the not so distant past one
needed to attend to the production
process to ensure problems were
spotted in time to avoid costly waste of
time and money. Today, wide-format
printing manufacturers build in a degree
of machine learning by which the equipment
itself executes a degree of controlling,
adjusting and/or correcting processes.
This in turn gives the operator time to
focus on other production needs since
the equipment acquired a degree of
‘independence’.
Another aspect within the automation
process is the use of robots. High volume
shops, especially those with flatbed
printers, already use a higher degree of
automation by which robots handle the
media. Robots control the process of
loading, flipping (if needed) and off-
loading of the media, further enhancing
productivity and increasing the equipment
independence. Last month I attended a
demonstration of the use of robotics at
the Fujifilm Americas Technology Center
in Chicago. Robots were demonstrating
their capabilities with the Onset X3
flatbed printer. Fujifilm claims that the
automation reduced the manual labour
per sheet from 20 to 45 seconds,
down to six seconds.
The same degree of automation applies
to cutters which independently adjust
Fujifilm Onset X3
@graphicarts
the cut-outs based on preprogrammed
data, independently adjusting the
cutting knives required for the specific
substrate. Zund, the Swiss manufacturer
of digital cutters gave an impressive
demonstration at the Graphics Canada
2019 tradeshow, exhibiting a high
degree of automation in cutting sub-
strates with thicknesses ranging from
regular sheets to wooden particle
boards, adjusting templates and tools
on the fly.
Expect this automation process to
continue and further elevate productivity
and efficiencies.
7. Shorter runs and faster turnaround times
As mentioned before, wide-format
printing does not operate in a vacuum,
it is part of the multi-channel communi-
cation process and the wide-format
print production fits within a campaign
timetable. As is the case with commercial
printers where they are faced with
shorter runs and faster turnaround times
for their digital and offset press work,
the same applies to the wide-format
printer. Long runs scheduled far in
advance are becoming the exception;
short runs with a degree of variability
and fast turnaround times are quickly
becoming the norm. Expect this trend
to accelerate. We'll see a continued
increase in the number of wide-format
print jobs, however, with shorter runs
and faster turnaround times.
8. Increasing consolidation and con-
vergence of market segments
As I mentioned in an earlier article, the
commercial printing market has seen an
unprecedented degree of consolidation
and an increase in commercial printers
expanding into adjacent market seg-
ment s such as packaging and
wide-format printing. With this article we
are now looking at it from the wide-
format printer’s perspective. Here too
we see a consolidation where wide-
format printers acquire competitors or
merge with commercial printers. The
distinction lines between the commer-
cial printing, wide-format printing and
label and packaging printing market
GRAPHIC ARTS MAGAZINE | July / August 2019 | 19