KETTERING DIRECT MAIL PRINTER Eclipse Colour this week begins installation of eight Kodak inkjet heads on the Cutstar unit of its long perfecting Speedmaster 102.
“We expect them to be operational by the beginning of July,” says managing director Simon Moore. “We plan to start installation on Monday and we’ll need some training before we produce commercial work.”
THE COMPANY IS THE SECOND UK printer to add the continuous inkjet heads on a Speedmaster following Anton group. Kodak has also sold the technology to G&H for installation on an M600 web press being installed in September. Eclipse also has Goss M600 webs, but chose to offer hybrid litho and digital printing through the Heidelberg platform.
Moore explains: “This will help use create different markets to the ones we are already in. We have some work within the business which will utilise this machine. While this is not an inconsequential investment, it lets us dip a toe into the water and so understand the technology a bit further.”
CURRENTLY VARIABLE DATA IS printed on its five Océ VarioPress continuous feed toner presses which are relatively new and so it is too soon to replace these says Moore. “But we do suffer from pinch points when capacity is limited by the five Océs and where we are not as flexible as we would like.”
The ability to print across the web prior to sheeting on the CutStar unit allows Eclipse to print either limited variable data or a a full sheet of variable information before any overprinting of static data on the litho units. The installation will provide the company experience in running with inkjet as a step towards what might be a white paper solution to replace the Océs in due course.
“AT THE MOMENT WE DON’T KNOW if what we do in terms of direct mail is the right application for this inkjet technology. We know it works for transactional, but we are not sure if it is suited for direct mail. A lot can change in two years.”
The Speedmaster 102 has been supplanted by the installation of a ten-unit Speedmaster XL106 in March so the extra flexibility the older machine will gain is also welcome. The extra variable data capacity comes as Eclipse Red, the subsidiary targeting cross media and data led campaigns gets into it stride. “This is opening up conversations that are not purely around product. It’s offering innovation, that’s the exciting part.”
