As testament to the demand and efficiency of the Ricoh Pro C7100 colour cut sheet press, Ligurgaf (an Italian print service provider) has bought the 2000th model since the product’s release in December 2014. The press is one of the first to bring a fifth colour station to market with long sheet printing.
Ligurgaf owner, Alessandro Dario, said, ‘This was a straightforward decision. The combination of high image quality plus the versatility the fifth station brings means we can enhance our offerings and reputation.’
The device can print on sheets up to 700mm at up to 90 pages per minute. Seven of every 10 Pro C7100 sold in Europe have included the fifth colour station option.
‘There’s no competition for this device at the price point,’ said Frank de Afonseca, who heads Ricoh SA’s production printing business. ‘It’s an affordable option for print service providers to differentiate with value-added creative designs, more applications from posters to book covers, and applications that give customers more impact and better results.’
Vaughan Patterson, product marketing operations manager for Production Print at Ricoh SA, added, ‘This line of presses improves coverage for larger prints over 124 centimetres. It also improves automatic media selection, maintains colours better by monitoring density variation, and the vacuum-fed large capacity tray makes it more reliably pick up even 360gsm paper. And the fifth colour station with the option to use white or clear ink is a game-changer, particularly on such a cost-effective press designed for mid-sized to smaller printers and central reproduction departments (CRD).’
It’s been possible to print white ink for a long time. Options in the past included litho presses and screen printing. But litho presses tended not to spread the white ink evenly, resulting in colour density variations and required long runs to be cost effective. Screen printing provided a much better density consistency and therefore reliable quality for customers. But it’s exceptionally slow, cumbersome, expensive, not to mention specialised.
Additionally, fast drying times, the ability to print metallic colours in conjunction with ColorLogic software, and extended media options all give PSPs valuable benefits.
Another key attraction for PSPs is Ricoh’s sustained commitment to research and development. An example is neon yellow toner that extends the creative potential of the Ricoh Pro C7100 series.
