Articles By Ralf Schlozer

Ralf Schlozer is Independent Print Analyst. Ralf provides analysis, sizing and forecasting the market for digital printing technologies and associated applications and business processes. Connect with Ralf on LinkedIn

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Featured image for “Compact, high quality label printing with the SnapPress LP-1”
November 14, 2023

Compact, high quality label printing with the SnapPress LP-1

The market in packaging printing and especially labels is gravitating towards digital print – driven by its ease of use, short-run capability and rapid production times. LabelExpo 2023 already brought a raft of new devices but the innovation has not stopped since. At Printing United 2023 a new player emerged with SnapPress and the SnapPress LP-1 inkjet label printer.
Featured image for “Let’s get functional: functional print and inkjet”
November 8, 2023

Let’s get functional: functional print and inkjet

Functional print is starting to leave the lab and pilot stage, but there are many considerations to take into account that set this application range apart from other print application fields. Also inkjet offers some unique opportunities in functional print but has its own challenges as well.
Featured image for “Gallus, a journey in Inkjet print”
October 17, 2023

Gallus, a journey in Inkjet print

A Gallus centennial celebration at the new customer experience center and introduction to the Gallus One inkjet label press
Featured image for “LabelExpo 2023: Launches and Trends – Part 2”
October 3, 2023

LabelExpo 2023: Launches and Trends – Part 2

Part 2 of LabelExpo Europe coverage with interesting launches in ancillary processes such as embellishment, finishing, inks and process control.
Featured image for “Driving profitability with cut-sheet inkjet”
September 28, 2023

Driving profitability with cut-sheet inkjet

New technology can open opportunities in a changing market, for example, sheet-fed inkjet in direct marketing. Direct mail is a thriving form of advertising and, after a brief dip during the pandemic, volumes and revenues keep rising again.
Featured image for “LabelExpo 2023: Launches and Trends – Part 1”
September 21, 2023

LabelExpo 2023: Launches and Trends – Part 1

LabelExpo is the leading event for label printing and the 2023 edition, after a 4-year break, had several interesting launches. Part 1 of the article will focus on the standalone and hybrid inkjet label presses and some other packaging inkjet presses that sneaked in.
Featured image for “Inkjet Shopping Guide – Label Presses – Part 3: Hybrid”
August 31, 2023

Inkjet Shopping Guide – Label Presses – Part 3: Hybrid

Primarily in the high end of the market are found hybrid inkjet / analogue presses that can provide economic and productivity benefit over either stand-alone technology in the right scenario.
Featured image for “Inkjet Shopping Guide – Label Presses – Part 2”
August 23, 2023

Inkjet Shopping Guide – Label Presses – Part 2

Inkjet label presses come in different sizes and from a raft of different vendors, making selecting a device challenging. This article focuses on mid-to high-volume printers and will be followed by a third instalment on hybrid presses, which combine inkjet and analogue print.
Featured image for “Inkjet Shopping Guide: Label Presses – Part 1”
August 10, 2023

Inkjet Shopping Guide: Label Presses – Part 1

Labels are a large and growing market for inkjet presses with more than 25 suppliers serving the market. The buyer’s guide for label presses discusses segments, major decision criteria, and products currently on offer by segment. Part 1 introduces the main segments and printers available in the entry-level segment.
Featured image for “Using B2 inkjet flexibility for packaging print”
July 11, 2023

Using B2 inkjet flexibility for packaging print

B2 inkjet presses can be a relatively cost-efficient way for moving into packaging print. The flexibility of the presses does allow for commercial and packaging print. User feedback shows that these presses can be successfully used for packaging or mixed environments.
Featured image for “Inkjet on Metal”
June 29, 2023

Inkjet on Metal

One fascinating property of inkjet is its ability to print on almost any substrate – with the right inks and transport as a prerequisite. Metal is not the newest substrate for inkjet, however, mainstream adoption is just about to start.
Featured image for “Scanning head versus fixed array inkjet”
June 21, 2023

Scanning head versus fixed array inkjet

At FESPA 2023 in Munich, more than four halls of exhibits demonstrated the wide choice of scanning head inkjet printing available.
Featured image for “Optimising inkjet paper supply with autosplicers”
May 4, 2023

Optimising inkjet paper supply with autosplicers

With inkjet moving into high quality, commercial print the prerequisites have changed. Faster speeds trigger more roll changes. Frequent paper changes and high productivity requirements call for automated solutions.
Featured image for “Inline Quality Control for Inkjet”
April 25, 2023

Inline Quality Control for Inkjet

High end inkjet printers are increasingly addressing commercial print and high-end mailing markets, where print quality and consistency are paramount. Inline quality control systems can assure high print quality and additionally provide a quicker start-up and fewer manual interventions.
Featured image for “Koenig & Bauer in Inkjet”
April 12, 2023

Koenig & Bauer in Inkjet

This article aims at providing an overview of the current activities of Koenig & Bauer in inkjet printing.
Featured image for “2023 Inkjet Shopping Guide for Flexible Packaging Presses”
March 15, 2023

2023 Inkjet Shopping Guide for Flexible Packaging Presses

This shopping guide is intended to give a high-level overview of flexible packaging presses available or announced.
Featured image for “Hunkeler innovationdays 2023 – inkjet reaching maturity”
March 6, 2023

Hunkeler innovationdays 2023 – inkjet reaching maturity

The Hunkeler Innovationdays event evolved from an open house for web finishing into what is arguably the most important event for high volume digital printing.
Featured image for “2023 Inkjet Shopping Guide for Corrugated Presses Part 2: Pre-Print Plus”
February 28, 2023

2023 Inkjet Shopping Guide for Corrugated Presses Part 2: Pre-Print Plus

Continuing our coverage of inkjet for corrugated, the second part in this shopping guide offers a high-level overview of the corrugated post-print devices available plus a few alternative approaches to corrugated print.
Featured image for “2023 Inkjet Shopping Guide for Post-Print Corrugated Presses”
February 21, 2023

2023 Inkjet Shopping Guide for Post-Print Corrugated Presses

High-volume production inkjet is still relatively new to the corrugated printing industry. However, the choices are already plentiful. This shopping guide is intended to give a high-level overview of the corrugated post-print devices available.
Featured image for “Opportunities with single-pass dimensional inkjet print”
February 14, 2023

Opportunities with single-pass dimensional inkjet print

Several companies offer tactile embellishment systems already and the market interest has been quite high. However, as multi-pass systems, they require some time to build up sufficient thickness.

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