EFI has announced a new Plus version of its Nozomi C18000 single pass inkjet corrugated press. Existing Nozomi’s can be field upgraded to the new spec.
For this update, EFI mainly seems to have addressed issues with the media transport system. Thus there’s a new transport feed plus a patented vacuum table system that eliminates warping. There’s also an improved post-print quality inspection system to help users monitor quality and find issues such as missing nozzles. The new version is also said to be able to detect and recover from jams within seconds and to automatically continue to print jobs in their original sequence in order to maintain the integrity of the variable-data workflow. EFI has also improved the rush proof feature, which can generate and output a proof within 90 seconds while another job is running on the printer.
I am troubled by a quote from an American user, included in EFI’s press release announcing the new Nozomi. Howard Bertram, president of Complete Design & Packaging, based in Concord, North Carolina, described the new Plus version as a “game changer”, adding: “It has provided consistent throughput at higher speeds and with fewer interruptions, and with enhanced print quality. It is now definitely the machine we knew we were purchasing. Thank you, EFI!” This implies that the existing Nozomi that he installed wasn’t up to scratch, forcing EFI to make the improvements listed above.
According to EFI there are also new coater options, including a quick-change anilox coater for improved performance.
The Nozomi itself is a 1.8m wide UV LED press that prints direct-to-board. The actual imaging system appears to be unchanged with resolution up to 360 x 720dpi. The press still runs at 75 linear metres per minute and can still be configured with either four or six colours, and there’s still a choice of orange, violet or white inks alongside the CMYK colours.
It appears to come with an updated version of the Fiery NZ-1000 DFE though this particular front end has been around for a couple of years so it’s not clear how much of the features can actually be said to be new. Nonetheless, EFI claims that this DFE can process jobs up to five percent faster, which presumably means that the server hardware has been updated.
Otherwise, it has a number of standard features that any DFE driving a press of this type should offer, including Adobe PDF Print Engine 5 as well as a Smart Ink Estimator for analysing image data to calculate ink costs. There’s also the Fiery Edge profiling technology that combines GCR and black generation controls with proprietary technologies to help unnecessary reduce ink usage. Edge also includes Fiery Intensify, for rendering intents said to increase colour and saturation while maintaining neutral greys and realistic skin tones.
The server also includes Fiery JobFlow Base, which automates repetitive job setups, Fiery Spot Pro, for managing spot colours, and Fiery FreeForm Create, for visually setting up variable data print.
Naturally, the Nozomi can also be used with the EFI IQ cloud-based set of free and paid applications, such as the EFI IQ Dashboard, which gives a personalised view of the day’s digital printing activities, as well as EFI Notify, for sending reports and alerts.
The Nozomi Plus is available now though its not clear if EFI will continue to sell the existing version of the Nozomi. In any case, you can find further details on the Nozomi from efi.com.
…with a little help from my friends
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