Have you ever thought about the ink?
Between our visits to PRINT and EFI Connect, we continue to see increasing numbers of inkjet devices, primarily designed for production print environments. Companies such as Canon, EFI, HP, Konica Minolta, RISO, and others are giving inkjet some cred, and we keep hearing about pockets of dealers who are making inroads selling inkjet production. For the inkjet manufacturers who are moving their products through the independent dealer channel, that’s a start.
In some instances, inkjet is even finding a place in the office. Epson is doing its part to bring inkjet into the office, HP is gaining some traction with its PageWide technology, and RISO sees an opportunity there as well, albeit more from a production or light production perspective.
Last year, Kyocera shook things up with the introduction of its first high-speed inkjet production device, which dealers here in the U.S. will be selling any day now. There’s speculation that Kyocera will eventually migrate this technology downstream into its office devices. Other OEMs may do the same, although most of the R&D currently taking place around inkjet is still focused on the higher end of the market.
Either way, inkjet is gaining traction. We recommend our readers monitor what their manufacturers and others are doing with this technology. For those readers who have a growing production business, inkjet technology will eventually become a dominant technology in this segment, so prepare for it, even if toner-based devices will continue to rock your world for the foreseeable future.
Coincidentally, this month, we have some compelling editorial focused on inkjet, including a recap of the offerings and inkjet technology strategies of a host of vendors as well as a primer on UV and latex inks. On our website this month, you’ll also find an inkjet dealer success story. And mark your calendar because we’ll be providing additional coverage on what’s happening in this segment in our September Production and Industrial Print issue.
For now, we recommend you think about and learn more about inkjet before it really takes off.
Scott Cullen
Editor-in-Chief
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