Ricoh’s revolution tour kicked off at Stationer’s Hall in London last week, home of the original print revolution according to UK marketing director Chas Moloney.
The main hall of the livery company’s central London home had the first UK display of the Pro C751 light production digital press that the company had hoped to launch at Northprint. In the event an exhibition in Paris became the venue where what Moloney described as a revolutionary machine made its debut. “Previously printers have always had to compromise on quality and price,” he says. “This place echoes to the revolution of print under Caxton and Wynkyn de Worde. This launch is another revolution.”
Since then Ricoh has taken 25 UK orders for the press, with partner Heidelberg responsible for just two or three to date. The revolutionary aspect comes from the combination on on board features that offer a level of quality and consistency new to this sector of the market, Chas Moloney claims. Xerox’s announcement of a new light production press at GraphExpo may provide a challenge to the C751.
As currently offered the press includes document scanners, though a print only versions will be available. A GBC punch and Plockmatic bookletmaking will be an option from next month to add to online ring binder and folder able to create six folding patterns.
Quality focused features include digital image length adjustment to ensure tight front to back register when printing duplex; active toner density control for consistency on longer run jobs; liquid cooling of the fusing unit to manage the temperature fusing occurs at, adjustable to suit different papers. A number of components have been designed to be be operator replaceable.
Ricoh is taking the press on a tour around the British Isles, including Telford, Leeds and Airth in Scotland, reach Ireland’s National Print Museum in Dublin on 12-14 October.
The tour includes demonstrations of the latest versions of web to print application NowPrint, with improved user interface; MicroPress V8 to manage a printroom with multiple presses; and Doc-Q-Manager, Ricoh’s job queue management application. The payment model for NowPrint has changed to a single monthly charge to access the SaaS application rather than volume based pricing.
The C751 comes also with the external EFI E41A print server. It will print at 75 ppm using a VCSEL laser to offer 4800x1200dpi imaging on up to 300gsm papers. It is rated at a monthly volume of 180,000 impressions.
Light production revolution starts where the print revolution began, says Chas Moloney
