Here, Scott Morgan, Graphic Arts Magazine contributor and award-winning Student Representative from Ryerson University’s School of Graphic Communications Management (GCM) in downtown Toronto, walks the floor and gives us his insights from this year’s Graph Expo tradeshow in Orlando, Florida, which continues today. He’ll keep you up to date by reporting up to and including the show’s conclusing on Wednesday, September 28.
Keep an eye out for the duo of Konica Minolta and MGI. The two have recently strengthened their alliances, with Konica Minolta increasing their equity in MGI from 10% to 41% as announced by Kevin Abergel of MGI at a press conference on Sunday afternoon. Konica Minolta will now begin distribution of four major products from the MGI portfolio. Here are two that caught my eye.
After previously being displayed at Drupa, MGI’s AlphaJet continues to impress as it makes its North America launch. This powerful digital inkjet press can virtually print on any substrate, including 3D objects. The racetrack-style set-up enables the press to produce 2D spot UV coating, 3D embossed varnish textures and embossed foil effects in one complete pass. The press is also capable of printing chipless RFIDs, making it a strong contender in the world of printed electronics.
Say goodbye to make-readies with MGI’s Artificial Intelligence Scanner (AIS). The smart scanner identifies key points on the substrate and compares them to the original file. The scanner makes upwards of 5 trillion calculations to adapt the file to the printed substrate. Every new sheet is custom registered as it goes through the press, resulting in minimal set-up time and waste. The scanner ultimately reduces the touch points for the operator. They simply have to push a button to start the machine and offload the final product. Since every sheet is custom registered, numerous different jobs can be run all at the same time using the same stack. This has tremendous promise, especially in variable-data printing where there are often numerous re-prints.
This technology can also really make an impact on the way jobs are being priced from the direct ROI point of view. We’re seeing the potential for make-readies to become an ancient term, resulting in quicker turn-around times for printed jobs with little to no waste. Plus, we could see more aggressive pricing estimates with the implementation of an AIS system in the near future.
Live report: Who’s hot at Graph Expo 2016
