First Jointly Developed Heidelburg-Fujifilm Inkjet Industrial Printer to be Shown at drupa

Heidelburg and Fujifilm will show their first jointly developed B1 industrial inkjet press, called the Primefire 106, at the upcoming drupa 2016 production-printing tradeshow that will be held May 31 to June 10 in Dusseldorf, Germany

The Primefire 106 is designed mostly for folding-carton printers, but the companies say it’s also suitable for printing posters, calendars, customized materials, and for VDP (variable data printing).

In late 2013 Heidelberg and Fujifilm formed a partnership in order to develop a new industrial digital inkjet-printing system, using both companies’ research and development resources, and producing the system in less than 24 months’ time.

The system’s new print-engine design will incorporate Samba state-of-the-art MEMS inkjet print-head technology sourced from FujiFilm Dimatix. It will also use Fujifilm’s water-based pigment ink with Rapic technology for  high-definition imaging that meets food-packaging safety regulations. The companies say that Fujifilm’s inkjet technology will work together with Heidelberg’s developments in press manufacturing and system integration to achieve quality output “comparable to offset (printing) with superior consistency and reliability.” The new digital inkjet press will be driven by the Heidelberg Prinect Digital Front End (DFE).

The firms say the system design will enable printers to develop new applications from a fully digital-based system for customization, VDP, and targeted marketing applications. Fujifilm’s newly developed seven-color inks (cyan, magenta, yellow, black, orange, green, and violet) and Heidelberg’s varnish are said to improve the range of digital-printing applications through a wide color space and accessibility to various commercial substrates.

Heidelberg will showcase the systems at drupa, while Fujifilm will exhibit its range of OEM capabilities that include various inkjet-printing products, including the Samba inkjet print-head with its ink-recirculation design.

Both Fujifilm and Heidelberg are planning to market and sell the new systems to each’s own customers. Commercialization for the new platform is planned in the latter part of 2017, and first installation for field testing is planned after the drupa exhibition.

More Resources

December 2015: Global Production-Printer Shipments Near Double-Digit Growth in Third-Quarter 2015, Reports IDC