Fujifilm to focus on vision and strategy for Graphic Arts business at drupa

Fujifilm Corporation has announced its vision and strategy for its Graphic Arts business, which will be the basis for the company’s presence at drupa 2012 (Dusseldorf, Germany, May 3rd - 16th).

Under the company’s medium term management plan, VISION 80, Fujifilm has identified the Graphic Arts industry as a key growth area for its business and has committed significant resources to remain at the forefront of the industry.  Fujifilm will use the drupa 2012 show to showcase the results of this investment programme, demonstrating a wide range of new printing concepts, technologies, products, services and solutions under the banner “POWER TO SUCCEED.”

The driving force behind Fujifilm’s “POWER TO SUCCEED” philosophy is the desire to deliver advanced solutions to its customers that help them achieve success.  The company is therefore emphasising a number of key strategies to achieve this:

Expand the Fujifilm portfolio of digital printing solutions, including strengthening its inkjet ink business

Fujifilm’s first inkjet digital press, the ‘Jet Press 720’ provided a breakthrough in terms of the format size, productivity and quality achievable with digital print.  Thanks to the use of ‘SAMBATM’ printhead technology and a new water-based ink formulation, the Jet Press 720 is able to deliver 4-levels of greyscale at 1200dpi on a B2 sized sheet at high speed.  The press has already attracted the interest of forward-thinking printers who recognise that the combination of the quality (which supersedes what can be achieved using the traditional 4-colour offset process), greater format size (relative to other digital printing technologies) and productivity can enable a printer with the POWER TO SUCCEED in new printing applications and realise greater profit potential for their business.

Following the interest in this state-of-the-art digital press, Fujifilm is now expanding its range of single pass inkjet presses by applying the core technologies at the heart of the Jet Press 720 to other print applications and business segments. At drupa 2012, Fujifilm will be showcasing a second B2 inkjet digital press based on these technologies specifically targeted at the unique needs of the packaging print industry.

In addition to expanding its range of digital printing devices, Fujifilm has invested considerable resources into developing ink systems that take advantage of the very latest printheads from FUJIFILM Dimatix.  This combination of state-of-the-art printheads and ink is at the heart of Fujifilm’s growing presence in the inkjet digital press market.  These latest ink developments further expand the boundaries of quality and performance, and are set to open up new applications for inkjet printing.

Build upon the success of Fujifilm’s commercial print portfolio by developing solutions for the packaging and sign and display markets

Fujifilm intends to expand its product portfolio to address not only commercial printing, but also the packaging and sign and display markets, using its technologies to allow printers to diversify the range of print applications they offer to their customers.

With its newly introduced FLENEX DLE flexo plate and multi-channel CTP platesetter, Fujifilm is able to offer an alternative to packaging printers who are still relying on the laser ablation mask (LAM) method of plate production.  Fujifilm’s groundbreaking new DLE system allows printers to benefit from further digitisation of the print process, resulting in improvements to productivity and efficiency, while allowing significant reductions in terms of the system’s impact on the environment.

In addition, Fujifilm’s latest wide format ink jet printer, the Acuity LED 1600, takes advantage of Fujifilm’s latest printhead, ink and Intelligent Curing Control technologies to push the boundaries of what can be achieved in the sign and display print market. The combination of the latest UV-curable ink, together with a long-life, low-power LED light source and eight colour inks (including white and clear), results in an ultra-versatile platform that is able to deliver exceptional quality and productivity of 20 m2/hr.

Develop workflow and software solutions that help printers manage print production more effectively, and take advantage of the possibilities presented by emerging cloud-based technologies

The increasing complexity of print and the growing trend for printers to introduce a wider range of production technologies is increasing the demands on print production systems.  As a result, Fujifilm is investing in software technologies that help all aspects of print production across a wide variety of print applications, from selling, submitting and approving print through to managing the creation of printed products.  The company is also expanding the functionality of its software solutions outside of its traditional area of commercial print, into the wide format, packaging and sign and display markets.

Fujifilm’s XMF Workflow, already popular amongst commercial printers for its speed and flexibility in handling work across digital and offset print processes, has recently benefited from the addition of XMF Remote, a remote submission and approval module, and XMF PrintCentre, a cloud-based web-to-print system.  Drupa 2012 sees the company add another significant component to the XMF family of products, with the addition of XMF ColorPath, a new cloud-based system designed to help maintain consistent colour standards. As a result, XMF now represents one of the most comprehensive and advanced production management systems on the market, addressing many of the issues faced by today’s print service providers.

Continue to develop plate production and pressroom solutions that help offset printers improve their efficiency and productivity whilst minimising their impact on the environment

Fujifilm has been investing resources in both product development and manufacturing to enable it to offer one of the widest ranges of sustainable plate production systems on the market. Already the global leader in environmentally sustainable plate systems, Fujifilm is expanding its successful range of ‘lo-chem’ plate production systems, as well as enhancing its existing processless plate, Brillia HD PRO-T3, the company’s most advanced plate ever. PRO-T3 has already been widely adopted by many printers looking to completely eliminate chemistry from their plate production, as it allows them to achieve this goal without sacrificing quality or efficiency. At drupa 2012, Fujifilm is going further than any other supplier with the launch of a waste reduction unit that allows the extraction of water from developed chemistry and recirculation within the plate development process.

To complement these new product developments, Fujifilm’s newest offset plate production line in Tilburg, The Netherlands, is now in full operation.  This new line is the world’s most advanced and automated plate manufacturing facility, designed to deliver manufacturing excellence in terms of consistent, repeatable, high quality plate production. Not only is this site able to produce Fujifilm’s ‘lo-chem’ and processless plates locally for the European, Middle East and African markets, but thanks to a considerable investment in a range of sustainability initiatives, including the construction of five windmills to generate electricity, this operation can now justifiably claim to be one of the largest and most environmentally sustainable plate manufacturing operations in the World.

It is the combination of these key strategies that forms Fujifilm’s business vision for the printing industry, and all these initiatives and developments are evidence of Fujifilm’s continued commitment to the industry to support its growth. From materials and equipment to systems and service, the company aims to provide the best combination of solutions and support to help its customers achieve success.

[photo shows Acuity LED 1600]