Articles By Ralf Schlozer

Ralf Schlozer provides an overview of the light-to-mid production inkjet devices making an impact in the European market.

The lockdown took a big toll on the printing industry but some recovery has set in already. In this article, Ralf assesses the production volume and print application impact for Europe.

The dynamics of the diverse and growing label market is promoting digital print. The right choice of device is critical however to participate in a wider range of print opportunities.

Stemming from two well-known parent companies, the Koenig & Bauer Durst joint venture might be less well known. The company bundles the digital packaging print activities and has launched several interesting inkjet products for packaging print. This article gives some background on the joint venture and an overview on the activities.

Look at your production capabilities and especially at the sales & distribution channel to generate the orders. Like getting through the COVID-19 crisis: it takes a common effort.

In previous editions of this series I wrote about the main applications production inkjet is being used for, focusing mostly on roll-fed inkjet – the dominant production method so far. This is different for cutsheet inkjet, which is far more versatile and is used across a number of applications.

For a young company, Mouvent has a remarkably strong heritage in digital printing. With the great flexibility and scalability of the Mouvent clusters it is no surprise that Mouvent is aiming for a much wider range of products such as folding carton, flexible packaging and corrugated.

This June, Kodak announced the launch of their latest device: the Prosper Ultra 520, fulfilling their promise to “double down on digital.” We take a deep dive on the device specs and what makes Kodak’s latest offering remarkable.

In June Domino introduced the X630i, its first digital inkjet product offering for corrugated. Domino joins an increasingly crowded field of post-print cut-sheet inkjet presses for corrugated. Get an overview of this new offer and an overview of the current corrugated field.

One of the fastest growing markets in commercial print is online printing. It rather describes a process than a type of printing company or print application, but yet we tend to know what is meant with the term: a printing company that conducts the majority of their transactions via a web interface.

More than ever, inkjet provides a creative avenue for businesses to produce marketing in a cost effective way while adding value add and personalisation for various print products they would not have considered before.

With MBO Komori is acquiring a solid post-press equipment manufacturer, having achieved sales of €51.7 million in 2018. This is helping to diversify the Komori product portfolio. MBO serves a fairly stable market as folding is an essential part of many print production processes regardless of using analogue or digital print. MBO can also be a door opener into printing companies Komori had no good access to before.

Ralf Schlozer looks at how uptake for inkjet differs based on the packaging market addressed and identifies rapid changes happening in the market. Includes highlights of major adopters of various inkjet packaging technologies.

Ralf Schlozer takes a careful look at aspects of the commercial printing market in Europe and where inkjet has and has not penetrated. Key adopters of different inkjet options are referenced along with expectations for future development.

In Europe, inkjet printing of books continues to have great success. And the good news? There is still room to grow in the book printing market. Ralf Schlozer shares information on top producers in Europe and key trends for 2020 and beyond.

Just as there are many types of inkjet printheads and ink, there are many types of processes for inkjet drying. Most printers combine several processes to create a drying solution. Ralf Schlozer discusses the fundamental factors related to drying in document and packaging printing environments including absorption, phase change, radiation and evaporation. It’s dry – but important.

A look at industry trends and events affecting the inkjet industry in 2019 and what to keep an eye on in 2020.

Kyocera is targeting the professional print market as strategic goal for company growth. The Pro 15000c is set to be the first of a range of devices, with future devices planned to move up the range towards higher-volume uses. Prospects can see the Pro 15000C in the Kyocera showroom in the Netherlands for now. The first public outing will be at drupa 2020, where Kyocera will present some upgrades to the device as well.

Ralf Schlozer provides an overview of the direct mail market in Europe and the impact of regionalization, postal regulations and GDPR on inkjet adoption. He also defines trends affecting the market for 2020.

Ralf Schlözer provides an overview of key technology launches this week at InPrint Munich as well as insight into why this event is different and valuable.