LFP - Large-Format-Printing

Agfa Graphics triples :M-Press productivity with range topping 770sqm/hr

Thursday 14. May 2009 - New :M-Press Tiger shows industrial inkjet with near offset image quality at screen printing speeds

At the FESPA
Press Conference Agfa Graphics unveiled the second generation :M-Press,
the :M-Press TIGER. Targeted at screen printers since day one, this
digital solution marrying Agfa inkjet technology with a Thieme Screen
Printing base, now boasts a 300 percent increase in productivity with even
higher quality output.

With :M-Press TIGER, Agfa Graphics has shown that the future of the screen
printing industry is digital. Rather than building a whole new machine,
Agfa Graphics uses Thieme screen printing knowledge and media transport
expertise and adds the new :M-Press Tiger UV inkjet shuttle. This shuttle
uses page-wide printing arrays, created with 64 new Agfa UPH2 dual color
piezo printheads. This new shuttle delivers large format printing at
unparalleled speeds.

?With the :M-Press Tiger we are taking a major step forward, with regards
to both speed and quality,? said Tom Cloots, Business Line Manager M-Press
at Agfa Graphics. ?The printing capabilities of the :M-Press TIGER are
extraordinary,we have dramatically boosted the speed of the engine as well
as introducing new higher quality printing modes and the ability to select
gloss level, with no impact on productivity. With our new printhead
technology, auto head positioning and tuning, we are capable of printing
at 1,583 sqm an hour (which equals 770 sqm/hr on the floor including
loading and unloading). The :M-Press TIGER has a colour gamut better than
ISO coated V2 and with optional in-line traditional pre- or post screen
printing stations, can also deliver primers, varnish, fluorescents, spot
and metallic colours. Since there is virtually no set-up time required on
the :M-Press Tiger, for the majority of common screen printing
run-lengths, the effective output of the M-Press TIGER is equal to
traditional screen printing. It gives the same turnaround time per job,
but at a lower cost and with higher quality. With :M-Press Tiger there is
no need for the CMYK screens and it has only 25% of the screen ink
lay-down.?

“SMP was the first to install an M-Press,? said Mark Turner; Production
Director at SMP. ?We have now been operating an M-Press for over two
years, 24/7, and this system has been key to us offering new services to
our clients, faster turnarounds and a lot more detail than our traditional
screen printing. Besides the pure replacement of our short and medium
runs, from litho and screen, it has allowed us to develop new applications
that were previously impossible. When Agfa showed us the :M-Press Tiger,
we were convinced. Agfa had kept us informed on their developments but
even so the quality and speed they have achieved exceeded our
expectations. We want to be the first in the world with the :M-Press Tiger
at SMP with such a competitive advantage for our clients. With the
:M-Press Tiger tripling our productivity we can see ourselves moving
almost every run-length from screen print to our :M-Press. We are planning
to have our :M-Press Tiger operational in Q3.”

:M-Press TIGER uses Agfa Graphics :Anuvia UV curable inks. The new Tiger
shuttles are compatible with all current :M-Press installations. This
unique ability to upgrade the :M-Press Thieme screen printing base,
maximizes the value of the initial investment for future growth.