UV-Cured Printers and Solvent Printers

December 2010
UV-Cured Printers
and Solvent Printers
(mostly from China)
Sign Istanbul 2010
Nicholas Hellmuth
UV-Cured Printers
Solvent Printers (mostly from China)
Sign Istanbul 2010
Front cover Sky Air-Ship UV Printer presented at Sign Istanbul 2010, here you can
see Dr. Nicholas and Selahattin Ayguler, founder and owner of PIMMS.
Please Note
Contents
Introduction to Sign Istanbul 2010
1
This report has not been licensed to any printer
manufacturer, distributor, dealer, sales rep, RIP
company, media or ink company to distribute. So if
you obtained this from any company, you have a pirated
copy.
UV-cured printers (at Sign Istanbul 2010)
2
UV brands: Conspicuous by their absence
7
Flatbed cutters
8
Solvent printers
9
Also, since this report is frequently updated, if you
got your version from somewhere else, it may be an
obsolete edition. FLAAR reports are being updated all
year long, and our comment on that product may have
been revised positively or negatively as we learned
more about the product from end users.
Chinese solvent printers
11
Textile printers
14
Water-based printers
16
Latex ink printers
16
RIP software
17
To obtain a legitimate copy, which you know is the
complete report with nothing erased or changed, and
hence a report with all the original description of pros
and cons, please obtain your original and full report
straight from www.large-format-printers.org.
After-Market ink
17
Media and Substrates
17
CO2 laser cutters
18
Most innovative booth design: 18
FLAAR Consulting Services for trade show booth design:
20
Trade show booth design
20
Acknowledgements
23
FLAAR Reports on Turkey
23
Your only assurance that you have a complete and
authentic evaluation which describes all aspects of
the product under consideration, benefits as well as
deficiencies, is to obtain these reports directly from
FLAAR, via www.wide-format-printers.NET.
Copyright 2010
UV-Cured Printers
Solvent Printers (mostly from China)
Sign Istanbul 2010
1
Introduction to Sign Istanbul 2010
FLAAR has attended Sign Istanbul in past years, but not 2008 or 2009. So it was nice to return to Istanbul in 2010.
In past years there were two different competing trade shows: one in the spring at the CNR Expo center near the airport. But evidently this competing signage trade show did not survive, since I do not see it listed on the CNR Expo web site.
Sign Istanbul is held at the Tüyap Fair & Congress Center, about 30 minute drive from the main airport.
Turkey is a hospitable country. Istanbul is a spectacular city to visit. I enjoy being in Istanbul every time I go. We recommend you
consider attending Sign Istanbul in 2011.
Sign Istanbul 2010 trade show entry.
UV-Cured Printers
Solvent Printers (mostly from China)
Sign Istanbul 2010
UV-cured printers (at Sign Istanbul 2010)
Agfa Jeti, dedicated flatbed with complete hood, Inka Teknik.com (DIC Group).
Agfa Jeti UV flatbed printer.
Durst Rho 500R
Durst Rho 750, in booth of Saatcioglu
Durst Rho 5000r printer side and back view.
2
UV-Cured Printers
Solvent Printers (mostly from China)
Sign Istanbul 2010
3
Flora UV-cured flatbed only (no roll-to-roll on this model) in booth of PASS
Flora UV-cured flatbed at PASS booth.
GRAPO Octopus, combo with moving transport belt. Since it did not specifically say II, I do not know if it was the original “I”, or the
significantly improved “II.” Version. In booth of Pimms.
Mimaki UJF-3042, in booth of Pimms.
Mimaki UJF-3042 UV at Pimms booth.
UV-Cured Printers
Solvent Printers (mostly from China)
Sign Istanbul 2010
Neolt Asterjet 1650, hybrid (pinch rollers) in booth of Met ArasGrup
Met ArasGrup exhibits Neolt Asterjet 1650 printer.
Oce Arizona 550 GT, in booth of Digi Teknik
Oce Arizona 550 GT.
4
UV-Cured Printers
Solvent Printers (mostly from China)
Sign Istanbul 2010
Roland LEC-330 UV-cured roll-to-roll, in booth of Alfanorm
Roland Versa UV LEC-330, Alfanorm booth.
Sky Air-Ship, SkyJet UV Flat-bed Printer (sic), dedicated flatbed with RtR, Pimms
SkyJet UV dedicated flatbed with roll-to-roll at Pimms booth.
5
UV-Cured Printers
Solvent Printers (mostly from China)
Sign Istanbul 2010
Sun NEO UV-LED Evolution, in the same booth, Bensah, as a flatbed CNC router vhf CAM 2030 Active Pro.
VUTEk, GS5000r, in booth of Digi Teknik.
Here is the new owner of this VUTEk 5-meter roll to roll UV printer,
Mr Kadir Altas, of the company named yeditepe.
6
UV-Cured Printers
Solvent Printers (mostly from China)
Sign Istanbul 2010
7
Here are some VUTEk 5-meter roll to roll UV printer samples.
UV brands: Conspicuous by their absence
No Fujifilm branded printers displayed; Fujifilm (Filmat) had a booth, but no printers whatsoever.
No Teckwin.
No Dilli; not even a Dilli-made Agfa :Anapurna printer.
No GCC inkjet printer. There were at least two booths that featured GCC logos (so I assume they sold GCC vinyl cutters or GCC laser
cutters). But nary a GCC StellarJet.
In this Istanbul expo, most Chinese manufacturers exhibited their solvent, and not their UV-cured printers. The only exception was one of the three Flora distributors who exhibited one Flora UV-cured flatbed.
No Liyu, or at least not under this brand name.
No Infinity: the Infinity dealer (Ozak) had a large booth with zero actual printers!
There are two editions of FLAAR Reports on trade shows: the regular report (the free one that you have
now on your monitor), and a separate TRENDs version. The separate TRENDs version has additional information on trends, for example, why Teckwin does not exhibit outside USA and China.
TRENDs
in Turkey
noticed at
Sign Istanbul
2010
UV-Cured Printers
Solvent Printers (mostly from China)
Sign Istanbul 2010
8
Flatbed cutters
There were so many Chinese-looking flatbed machines that I did not count them. Most were CNC routers.
Zünd had the largest presence, and had a substantial unit in the large booth of their distributor. GS XL-3200 was the model on
exhibit.
Zünd GS XL-3200 flatbed cutter.
MultiCam had one of their older CNC routers, the 3000 series; there was no current model MultiCam Digital Express exhibited.
AXYZ, if I remember correctly, had an antiquated-looking industrial-looking machine: it was not of the sophistication of an Aristo or
Zünd; and definitely not the level of Kongsberg.
vhf had their model CAM 2030 Active Pro. In the same booth as UV-cured printer from Sun (Russia).
I was disappointed not to see a Kongsberg; not even an EskoArtwork logo on a booth anywhere.
There were so many Chinese-made flatbed CNC routers and CO2 laser cutters that I did not attempt to list them all. When you go to
APPPEXPO in Shanghai, there is an entire hall filled with these cutters (and filled with smog from incinerated plastics that are being
melted by the CO2 laser cutters and engravers).
One US company attempted to rebrand a Chinese CNC router and I was told by another colleague that part of the router wore out
within a few days. So until we can find enough brands that are reliable, we prefer to evaluate only Kongsberg, Zünd, Aristo, etc.
AXYZ is a North American brand that is only rarely exhibited at wide-format inkjet printer sign expos. Here in Istanbul there was
a primitive-looking AXYZ 5010. Sorry, but compared even with Aristo and MultiCam it looked old-fashioned. The AXYZ was in the
booth of A ve A.
UV-Cured Printers
Solvent Printers (mostly from China)
Sign Istanbul 2010
Solvent printers
D.G.I. Polajet 3204D, in booth of Pimms (made in Korea)
D.G.I. Polajet 3204D printing samples at Pimms booth.
Mimaki JV33-160, in booth of Pimms
Mimaki CJV30-160BS, in booth of Pimms
Mimaki, booth of Procolor
Mimaki CJV30-160BS solvent printer.
9
UV-Cured Printers
Solvent Printers (mostly from China)
Sign Istanbul 2010
10
Artjet, Seiko 45 picoliter printhead, rebranded Chinese printer, in booth of Enerji Dijital Solvent printer with KM printheads, 14 picoliter, in booth of Enerji Dijital.
Enerji digital booth and ArtJet solvent printer.
About five Roland solvent printers in main Roland booth of Alfanorm.
Roland in booth of Damla Etiket Makinalari
Epson GS6000 in Epson booth.
Mutoh Viper, in booth of Saatcioglu
Seiko II ColorPainter H-104s, in booth of InkATeknik (DIC Group)
Seiko II ColorPainter H-74s, on the other side of the InkATeknik booth
Seiko II ColorPainter H-104s at InkATeknik booth.
Seiko II ColorPainter H-74s printing some samples.
Troyjet, in theory manufactured in southern Turkey.
In general, Mutoh had a weak presence at Sign Istanbul. Mimaki and Roland both had a good presence despite the dozens of Chinese printer brands. Seiko II has an active distributor in Turkey, Digiel Reklam.
UV-Cured Printers
Solvent Printers (mostly from China)
Sign Istanbul 2010
Chinese solvent printers
Three Challenger solvent printers, in booth of Saatcioglu
Saatciouglu booth view of the Challenger solvent printers.
Human Digital, K-Jet (one size), in booth of Pimms
Human Digital, K-Jet (another size and shape), in booth of Pimms
Human Digital low K-Jet solvent printer.
Leopard A3308F, in booth of Pimms (?)
Zhejiang GZK-1802AS, orange-colored printer with Epson printheads, in booth of Pimms (?)
11
UV-Cured Printers
Solvent Printers (mostly from China)
Sign Istanbul 2010
12
Phaeton, in booth of 2e Teknologi
Zhongye, in booth of 2e Teknologi
Micolor, in booth of 2e Teknologi
Allwin, in booth of Imren Reklam
Allwin U16 series, Ultra Series, Konica 512, 42
picoliter printhead, in a booth with a Myjet;
booth of avea etum
Myjet; booth of avea etum
Allwin U16 series printer.
Three AstarJet printers (Epson printheads): two were relabeled as a different name in one booth; third was in the back of the booth
of PASS, the larger of the Flora RTZ distributors.
ProPrint, two widths, rebranded from a Chinese factory
ProPrint AstarJet printer.
Optimum Digital Planet, had five or so Chinese solvent printers (brand not identified).
UV-Cured Printers
Solvent Printers (mostly from China)
Sign Istanbul 2010
Flora had three distributors:
• Flora HJII 5000, with Spectra Polaris printheads, in booth of PASS
• and a 3.2 Flora solvent printer (and UV) in booth of PASS
• Flora HJII 5000, with other printheads in booth of Fleksmedia
• Flora HJII 5000, with other printheads in booth of Design Digital
• Flora LJ 3200K in booth of Fleksmedia
So three “identical” 5-meter solvent printers
but each with different printheads (that was
what was mentioned; too much going on everywhere else to note which printheads in
which Flora booth). In Fleksmedia booth they
advertised HJ 5000 SE on a poster but logo on
printer said clearly Flora HJII 5000.
Fleksmedia booth advertised LJ 320P with Polaris 15 picoliter drops on banner but actual
printer on display was LJ 320K which I assume
means Konica (Minolta) printheads.
Flora LJ 320K printer.
Design, one solvent printer in a booth.
WitColor, in booth of Istanbul Reklam
Unbranded Chinese solvent printer in booth of
Pigment.
Chinese solvent printer in booth of DG Teknoloji
(printer was labeled SkyTech)
SkyTech printer at DG Teknoloji booth.
13
UV-Cured Printers
Solvent Printers (mostly from China)
Sign Istanbul 2010
14
Textile printers
Mimaki Textile Jet Tx400-1800D in booth of Pimms. The material sample appears to have been sublimated and then inserted bacck
into the printer to make it appear it was printed directly by this machine.
Pimms booth: Mimaki TextileJet Tx400-1800D printer.
d-gen Teleios, two in booth of Spot Ltd.
Roland for dye sub, Ilhankagit
Roland Hi-FiJet ProII FJ-740K with Chinese dye-sub unit attached to bottom, Optimum Digital Planet.
Roland FJ-740K with dye sub unit below.
UV-Cured Printers
Solvent Printers (mostly from China)
Sign Istanbul 2010
15
Mutoh (?) atop a larger Chinese dye-dub heat unit attached to bottom, Optimum Digital Planet.
A Heatfix 1600 unit was in the booth of one distributor, but there was no printer associated with it. Heatfix is made in South Korea.
Small desktop sized Epson printers in booth of Art Digital for T-shirt printing. FLAAR does not cover T-shirt printing with desktop
sized printers, but we do mention them when we see them.
UV-Cured Printers
Solvent Printers (mostly from China)
Sign Istanbul 2010
Water-based printers
Canon in booth of Digi Teknik
Canon iPF 8300, iPF 9000 in booth of Met ArasGrup.
Epson booth was often empty. Has model 11880, 9700, and unlabeled model with “HDR ink”
See HP models below.
Canon iPF 8300 and iPF 9000 in booth of Met ArasGrup.
Latex ink printers
HP Scitex LX800,
There are not yet any competing resin ink printers (other than latex) in Turkey. One resin ink would be Sepiax.
Yatay booth
Mat Kagit booth
HP Scitex LX800, latex
HP Scitex LX800, latex
HP Designjet L25500, latex
HP Designjet L25500, latex
HP Scitex FB700, uv
HP Scitex LX600, latex
HP Designjet T2300
HP Designjet T7100
HP Designjet Z6200
Zund cutter
16
UV-Cured Printers
Solvent Printers (mostly from China)
Sign Istanbul 2010
17
RIP software
The only RIP software that was noticeable was Caldera. The only RIP software company that had staff from their home office was also Caldera.
Caldera RIP software box.
After-Market ink
Sam Ink was in same booth as Agfa, Caldera, and Seiko II ColorPainter. Otherwise, there is a separate
FLAAR Report on all the after-market inks at Sign Istanbul.
Media and Substrates
We do inventories of media and substrates when there is a complete FLAAR team at a signage expo. A
team implies flying more than one person to the trade show. Due to the cost involved, it is not realistic
to have a full team at all trade shows around
the world.
Obeikan (OTF) exhibited in the booth of
Avanti.
Obeikan (OTF) at Avanti booth.
Ink Distributors
in Turkey
UV-Cured Printers
Solvent Printers (mostly from China)
Sign Istanbul 2010
18
CO2 laser cutters
There were dozens of large CO2 laser-cutters from China as well. The odor of incinerated plastic putrified the air quality for many
meters around each booth.
Of other laser cutters, the international brands that I recognized were Trotec and Universal Laser Systems.
GCC laser cutters are designed in Taiwan; whether these are now produced in Mainland China you would need to check.
Most innovative booth design:
Ozak, beautiful see-through fabric on all sides. Although this did make the booth almost thoroughly enclosed, in fact you could see
through all the “walls.”
Since there were zero Infiniti printers in the booth, the enclosing walls did not keep anyone out (since there was not much in the
booth to inspect). Nonetheless, the booth itself was remarkable (whether it was effective is a different story; but definitely an innovative use of “soft signage”).
OZAK textile wall view.
UV-Cured Printers
Solvent Printers (mostly from China)
Sign Istanbul 2010
19
Another innovative booth was of the Bensah, the distributor for LED-curing combo-style (conveyor belt) UV printers. The innovative
feature were the plastic chairs that I am guessing were printed first and then cut into shape and then heated to form final shape.
UV-Cured Printers
Solvent Printers (mostly from China)
Sign Istanbul 2010
20
FLAAR Consulting Services for trade show booth design:
About 20% of the booths have poor branding: either too many brands, or no focus on the brand that they really are.
In too many booths the corporate logo uses a bizarre alphabet design, which makes it almost impossible to recognize the actual
name of the company.
As a result, for 2011, FLAAR is providing consulting services for trade show booth design.
Trade show booth design
Pimms had a good design in many respects. First, the entire top area was covered by a light fabric ceiling that formed a nice “enclosure” for the two sides of the aisle. This made each side of the aisle look larger (by including the other side).
Then the entire center of the main booth was completely open: there was no tower; no closet, no obstruction. Their closets were
against the back wall of the exhibit hall, so did not cut off the view since that area backed up against a small neighboring booth
there.
The entire middle area of the Pimms booth area had tables and chairs, like a club. With plenty of cookies and nibbles. The hostesses
were courteous and actually worked hard. I noticed the blond hostess cleaning every table and cleaning the floor any time a CocaCola got spilled on the floor by someone sitting at the table.
At other booths the really good-looking hostesses either acted bored, flexed their corporal assets to draw men into their booth, or
spent their time gossiping with one of the other booth attendants. The blond in the Pimms booth was gorgeous but never flirted
with anyone, and worked the entire time, every day.
It is also nice to see a booth (like Pimms), with really good looking hostesses, but who wear conservative clothing that is respectful.
One nearby booth had a hostess whose
chic clothing style looked like she was
on a fashion show runway.
And another booth had two hostesses
whose sole job was to show as much
thigh as possible to stop as many males
in the tracks as possible. But at least
it was not like trade shows in Mexico,
where each booth vies with each other
to showcase women displaying as much
cleavage as possible. And at least it was
not like some trade shows in Europe
where one or more booths have topless hostesses (yes, totally topless, out in
public). I am not a prude (as a male I enjoy the view if the woman is attractive),
but I come to a sign trade show to study
printers, not to study female anatomy.
Pimms Prodigital booth.
UV-Cured Printers
Solvent Printers (mostly from China)
Sign Istanbul 2010
Pimms Prodigital booth.
21
UV-Cured Printers
Solvent Printers (mostly from China)
Sign Istanbul 2010
Skyjet UV Flat-bed printer at Pimms Prodigital booth in Sign Istanbul 2010.
22
UV-Cured Printers
Solvent Printers (mostly from China)
Sign Istanbul 2010
23
Acknowledgements
It was nice to have so many booth personnel indicate that they have been reading the FLAAR Reports for many years. As a result
many booths provided hospitality when they noticed that I was interested in their products. All the booths that I visited were pleasant, but I would like to provide special mention to several.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Avanti
BTC, Sensient ink
Digi Teknik, VUTEk and other major brands
Enerji Dijital
Inka Teknik.com (DIC Group), Sam-Ink
InkBank
Pimms
Procolor
SignGraphic magazine
Troyjet
Pimms sponsored the pleasant Polat Renaissance hotel for my stay in Istanbul.
FLAAR Reports on Turkey
There are four FLAAR Reports on wide-format inkjet signage in Turkey:
•
•
•
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Sign Istanbul 2010 exhibitor list by subject (the free report you have now)
Sign Istanbul 2010 TRENDs (available by purchase)
Wide-format Inkjet Printer Distributors in Turkey (available by purchase)
Distributors of Inks in Turkey (available by purchase)
UV-Cured Printers
and Solvent Printers
(mostly from China)
Sign Istanbul 2010
First Issued December 2010.
Sign Istanbul
2010 TRENDs
Distributors
of Inks
in Turkey