The Southampton-based company was prompted to make the move to digital due to increasingly short runs and more customers switching to web2print ordering on its Pageflex system. The Linoprint C751 is billed by the manufacturer as an entry-level digital colour production model, and cost-effective for very short runs. It outputs up to 75 A4 pages per minute on media up to 300 gsm. Hamble Valley Press, which runs a Speedmaster SM74-5, a SM52-4 and Quickmaster 46-2, looked at equipment from a number of other manufacturers before settling on Heidelberg, said managing director Martin Strong. “Once calibrated, this machine will sit well with our existing sheetfed presses giving us confidence and flexibility,” he said. “Whichever production route a job takes the end product will be comparable in quality.” The ability to be future-proof was another argument in favour of the Linoprint, Strong said. The company currently uses Heidelberg’s Signastation imposition software, part of the modular Printect Workflow system, as well as its Prinance MIS. The business is also considering installing Prinect’s Digital Print Manager to give the flexibility of a single workflow for both offset or digital output....

The HP Latex 3000 is a significant departure from exisiting HP latex machines and those offered by other vendors, according to the manufacturer. “One of the things people in this market have said previously is that they love the look and feel of latex but production is not fast enough for them,” said Jane Rixon, HP’s UK and Ireland large format production products channel business manager. The Latex 3000’s 77sqm/hr and 120sqm/hr speeds, for indoor and outdoor applications respectively, have solved this issue, added Rixon. According to HP, this boosted productivity is down to improved curing technology allowing substrates to move through the machine faster. The new printer also boasts improved cost-effectiveness, scratch resistance, ink capacity and roll handling capabilities. “As well as having the six colours, our third generation latex inks also have an ink optimiser, a transparent almost seventh ink that is laid down before the other inks to make these adhere to the surface even better,” said Rixon. She added: “You’re able to use heavier rolls on the Latex 3000 than you could on the previous 850. You’ve also got larger capacity, five-litre cartridges.” The current line-up of HP latex printers includes the L26500 and L28500, and the LX600, 820 and 850. HP said it had no plans to update these models to make them compatible with its new third generation latex ink. The models will however become part of a newly rebranded ‘HP Latex’ family, equivalent to HP’s Designjet and Scitex series. “Other manufacturers are bringing out latex technology but there are a number of differences between the formulation of those inks and in HP’s machines. “So we want to make it very clear what we mean when we talk about latex, which is completely water-based technology. There are no hazardous components in that ink,” explained Rixon. The HP Latex 3000 will be commercially available in August and will be priced at £230,000....

Hot on the heels of its acquisition of North American MIS developer PrintLeader, the latest deal will deliver GamSys’ customer-base of 400 printing and packaging firms in France, Belgium and Switzerland as well as French speaking countries in Africa. The US-based digital printing and software giant said it would integrate support and operation of GamSys into its existing productivity software organisation. As part of the deal, the financial terms of which remain undisclosed, EFI GamSys users with Xerox, Ricoh, Canon, Konica Minolta or EFI Vutek printers will be able to integrate their systems with EFI’s Fiery digital front end. Senior vice president and general manager of EFI Productivity Software Marc Olin said: “We are very pleased to have GamSys join the EFI family and our continually expanding portfolio of industry-leading business automation technologies. We look forward to continuing the high level of support for their customers.” Founder and chief executive of GamSys Software and now director or EFI GamSys, Patrick Vreven said: “As our market continues to evolve, our customers will now have access to an extensive portfolio of industry-leading technology, with more options to grow their business, while continuing to receive the same high-level of support and attention they are accustomed to.” The latest acquisition comes just two weeks after EFI announced its buyout of PrintLeader following a short hiatius from its acquisition trail in 2012, in which EFI absorbed four companies, in its bid to increase its hold on the global ERP, MIS and web-to-print markets. In an interview with PrintWeek in February, chief executive Guy Gecht confirmed that there would be more deals in 2013, with packaging a target area, and that EFI was in talks with various players in the industrial print sector....

The Southampton-based company was prompted to make the move to digital due to increasingly short runs and more customers switching to web2print ordering on its Pageflex system. The Linoprint C751 is billed by the manufacturer as an entry-level digital colour production model, and cost-effective for very short runs. It outputs up to 75 A4 pages per minute on media up to 300 gsm. Hamble Valley Press, which runs a Speedmaster SM74-5, a SM52-4 and Quickmaster 46-2, looked at equipment from a number of other manufacturers before settling on Heidelberg, said managing director Martin Strong. “Once calibrated, this machine will sit well with our existing sheetfed presses giving us confidence and flexibility,” he said. “Whichever production route a job takes the end product will be comparable in quality.” The ability to be future-proof was another argument in favour of the Linoprint, Strong said. The company currently uses Heidelberg’s Signastation imposition software, part of the modular Printect Workflow system, as well as its Prinance MIS. The business is also considering installing Prinect’s Digital Print Manager to give the flexibility of a single workflow for both offset or digital output....

The HP Latex 3000 is a significant departure from exisiting HP latex machines and those offered by other vendors, according to the manufacturer. “One of the things people in this market have said previously is that they love the look and feel of latex but production is not fast enough for them,” said Jane Rixon, HP’s UK and Ireland large format production products channel business manager. The Latex 3000’s 77sqm/hr and 120sqm/hr speeds, for indoor and outdoor applications respectively, have solved this issue, added Rixon. According to HP, this boosted productivity is down to improved curing technology allowing substrates to move through the machine faster. The new printer also boasts improved cost-effectiveness, scratch resistance, ink capacity and roll handling capabilities. “As well as having the six colours, our third generation latex inks also have an ink optimiser, a transparent almost seventh ink that is laid down before the other inks to make these adhere to the surface even better,” said Rixon. She added: “You’re able to use heavier rolls on the Latex 3000 than you could on the previous 850. You’ve also got larger capacity, five-litre cartridges.” The current line-up of HP latex printers includes the L26500 and L28500, and the LX600, 820 and 850. HP said it had no plans to update these models to make them compatible with its new third generation latex ink. The models will however become part of a newly rebranded ‘HP Latex’ family, equivalent to HP’s Designjet and Scitex series. “Other manufacturers are bringing out latex technology but there are a number of differences between the formulation of those inks and in HP’s machines. “So we want to make it very clear what we mean when we talk about latex, which is completely water-based technology. There are no hazardous components in that ink,” explained Rixon. The HP Latex 3000 will be commercially available in August and will be priced at £230,000....