Inkjet & Digital Printing
Highest Image Quality, Most Productive Cut-Sheet Digital Press Hits the Market; Keiger Printing Inks First Order for Xerox iGen4 in North America
Monday 15. September 2008 - The new Xerox Corporation (NYSE: XRX) iGen4 Press is headed for Keiger Printing Company in Winston-Salem, N.C., marking the first installation in North America. The breakthrough digital press - announced in Germany at drupa 2008 in May - is now available for delivery to print providers worldwide.
“We want to be the first in the country to offer our customers the best solution to their business needs,” said Louis Crockett, president of Keiger Printing. “Every high-quality color print that comes off of the iGen4 will help set us apart from our competition. This purchase will change our business.”
Keiger Printing, historically an early adopter of new technology, installed a Xerox iGen3 110 Digital Production Press three years ago. “The iGen3 press helped propel our company. The iGen4 takes everything to the next level and redefines the standards of digital printing,” said Crockett.
According to Crockett, color consistency and predictability are critical to his customers and that with the Xerox iGen4, repeat jobs will always look the same. The iGen4 creates offset and photo-quality images with consistent color from the first print to the last. There are more than 400 new parts and subsystems as well as new patented technologies that help the iGen4 generate its high-definition image quality.
Crockett said he expects productivity to increase 25 to 35 percent with the iGen4 through the automation of operator tasks, such as not needing to stop the machine to replace developer with the new Carrier Dispensing System. “Time is money, but it is only revenue if you are producing,” added Crockett.
By automating operator tasks on the iGen4, the need to stop the press for adjustments is greatly reduced. As a result, overall operating costs decrease and the break-even point improves between digital and traditional offset printing. “With the iGen4, it is faster and more economical to print jobs digitally,” said Crockett.
He also praised a feature, Auto Density Control, which automatically detects and adjusts for density variations while the press is in use, virtually eliminating streaks. Keiger Printing will use the CX Color Server powered by Creo with its iGen4.
Running at 110 pages per minute, the iGen4 is ideal for producing high-end collateral, direct marketing and photo specialty products – jobs that typically generate the most profits for print providers.
The iGen4 is the latest addition to Xerox’s industry-leading production digital portfolio, following the revolutionary Xerox iGen3, which led the industry into a new age of digital color printing.
Xerox is also now shipping the Automated Color Quality Suite Press Matching System, for new and existing customers of the Xerox iGen3 presses, offering high performance plus quality that matches offset printing. These enhancements enable faster press set-up, quicker time to production, greater color stability and automated Pantone color matching, perfect for producing applications from personalized direct mail and catalogs to marketing collaterals and photo books.
Keiger Printing, a family-owned business for 65 years, has long been at the forefront of technology and creativity in the printing industry. The company entered digital printing in 1993 with a Xerox DocuTech and in 2007 won the coveted Best of Show prize at the annual Printing Innovation with Xerox Imaging (PIXI) awards. The company, a Xerox Premier Partner, prints all types of applications from business cards to high-quality books for university art departments.
The iGen4 will make its U.S. debut to the public at Graph Expo 2008, the nation’s largest annual printing show, Oct. 26-29 in Chicago. The press will be on display in Xerox’s booth, No. 1219. The iGen4 has a U.S. list price of $640,000.