Inkjet & Digital Printing
New Co-Operation Delivers Enhanced Controller Offering to Mailing Market
Wednesday 08. April 2009 - Domino North America Digital Printing Group has announced a significant addition to its range of control systems for the high-volume mailing market thanks to a co-operation with industry leaders Lexmark and Lake Image Systems.
Domino, building on a strong track record in high volume mailing controllers, is set to launch a new system that is highly reliable, simple to operate and cost-effective. Targeted at mailing insertion control, where the extensive range of features such as those of the market-leading Domino Editor GT is not required, the new controller will provide a fully integrated read and print capability and is suitable for installation on both existing and new inserter systems.
The system comprises a Domino L400 thermal ink jet printer with embedded and acclaimed Lexmark technology, which is exclusive to Domino. A cost-effective and scalable camera system – typically the Lake Image Integravision – fitted to the feeder records and uploads information about the letter or insert to the Domino controller seamlessly. The Domino system centrally tracks each personalized piece along the line through multiple feed points, insertion into the envelope, sealing and turnover stations. The corresponding address data is tracked by the controller and relayed to the L400 for printing. The controller records information on all items printed and any rejected or lost due to jams or other interruptions. It can also display production statistics, provides the interface to the ink jet printer and the camera system, and a hardware interface to the line to monitor and track product locations. The system will operate at speeds in excess of 20,000 pieces/hour.
Traditionally very strong in the bindery and finishing areas of commercial printers and counting many of the worlds leading printing companies among their customers, Domino and Lexmark launched the L400 thermal ink jet range in 2007, creating an ideal product for a strong entry into the volume mailing industry. The L400 has proven to be a highly respected product in the sector, giving users many advantages over competitive technologies, foremost among which are lower ownership costs and markedly higher performance. In 2008, Domino strengthened its presence in the sector by joining forces with Lake Image Systems, a pivotal player in the OCR/OMR business for many years. The flexible functionality afforded by Lakes hard- and software suite allows customers to build sophisticated image recognition capabilities into their lines, delivering integrity monitoring far beyond the simple 2D- and barcode verification of lesser systems.
The combination of Dominos expertise in the mailing sector with the acknowledged technology of Lexmark and Lake Image Systems is expected to generate significant market demand for the new controller when it becomes commercially available in summer 2009. It has been developed by Domino North Americas Application & Project Group (APG) and comprises central control, a powerful yet simple XP-based man/machine interface, industry standard database handling and powerful print control. The system manages the product flow along the multiple speed sections of the inserter configuration through a series of vision systems, eyes and encoders. A teach-mode on the controller allows for simple learning of the system timing by the computer regardless of which pocket is feeding the camera or the precise location of the printer.
“We are very excited to offer a product that will help our customers increase their productivity and which sets us apart from the competition,” says David Ellen, Vice-President Sales, Digital Printing Group. “In addition, by continuing to leverage our partnerships with Lexmark and Lake Image Systems, were demonstrating that we can deliver very cost-effective solutions that are reliable, flexible and innovative – ideal for todays challenging and ever-changing marketplace.”