First commercially available Memjet wide-format printing device

Note: I was traveling in Europe for three of the past four weeks and am now playing “catch up” on articles for the blog. Sorry for the absence. I would have posted while in Europe, but I forgot to take with me my laptop power cable!

Well, how about this one – news announcing, finally, that there’s actually going to be a commercially available Memjet wide-format printing device.

Xanté teams with Memjet for Excelagraphix 4200 wide-format launch

By Simon Nias Monday, 12 September 2011 (found on PrintWeek.com)

Xanté has teamed with Memjet to unveil its first wide-format press, the 42in wide Excelagraphix 4200 colour inkjet printer, which is also the first 42in device based on Memjet technology, at Graph Expo in Chicago.

The Excelagraphix 4200 uses an array of five overlapping 8.77in Memjet Waterfall printheads, each containing 70,400 nozzles, to generate a maximum print width of 42in (1,067mm).

Xanté said that the device had been designed to print high-impact, full-colour, large-format pieces on a wide range of substrates at "screaming fast" speeds, and at a price point that’s affordable for a fast ROI.

The press is based on Memjet’s wide-format colour printing components and technologies, including the Waterfall printheads, which are capable of printing at 6in (152mm) per second at a resolution of 1,600dpi or 12in (305mm) per second at a resolution of 1,600x800dpi.

Each printhead has five ink channels (CMYKK) and two rows of nozzles per channel, while the press can print on a wide range of media, including foam board, corrugated cardboard and paper. Sheet sizes can vary from 210x210mm up to a maximum of 1,067mm wide by 30m long.

Media thickness is configurable and media transport dependent. Nominal printhead to paper spacing target to maintain is 0.7mm.

According to Xanté, the press can be used to print jobs including oversized architectural or engineering documents, maps, indoor signage, POP displays, packaging, folding cartons, corrugated boxes, and newspapers.

Robert Ross, chief executive of Xanté, said: "The industry has been watching to see what Memjet would do, and Xanté is honoured to be part of an event that is breaking ground and has the capacity to significantly alter the production landscape for the better, and for the long term.

"We’re utilising two particular Xanté technologies: iQueue Color Smart Worfklow, and our unique handling of diverse substrates, to create what will likely be the fastest and, in terms of lower capital and operational costs, most efficient ways to print colour."

Memjet wide-format president Mike Puyot added: "This partnership combines the best of both worlds. As soon as they saw what they had to work with, both Memjet and Xanté engineers got excited about the exponential value of the pairing.

"The Xanté Excelagraphix 4200 is just the tip of the iceberg in what we’ll start seeing in affordable, high-speed colour solutions. Memjet colour printing technologies offer end-users the freedom to print exactly what they want, when they want it, and where they want it; directly on manufacturing floors."

The partnership was also given the stamp of approval by Frank Romano, RIT Professor Emeritus, who said "merging the high-tech inkjet of industry innovator Memjet with Xanté’s extraordinary skill at productising sophisticated innovations into 'everyman' solutions gives us, in the Excelagraphix 4200, a glimpse of printing’s viable future".

Romano added: "Xanté has long been a pioneer in bringing new printing technology to all graphic arts businesses, big and small. From image- and platesetting, to laser printers, they have provided cost-efficient alternatives. Now they enter the wide-format world.

"Xanté has proven itself capable of filling technology gaps that were cost-prohibitive for other manufacturers to fill. Robert Ross and his team consistently fill those gaps with amazingly progressive and yet inexpensive systems. As a result, many hundreds of shops and in-plants are able to produce commercial quality work and compete in their markets."

Memjet has already announced OEM partnerships with Lenovo and LG Electronics this year, among others. Memjet’s technologies are also the recipient of the 2011 InterTech Technology Award from the Printing Industries of America.