Faith in the vision

Another ‘wow’ factor has been the number of printing companies willing to put hard cash down for the promise of a future product. Hundreds of companies bought into the Landa vision for Nanography and handed over €10,000 ($12,000) along with their letters of intent (LOIs) to buy machines of one variety or another. The B1 S10 press has proved by far the most popular choice, with one in every three orders placed for this model.

But what exactly are people paying for, apart from a promise? Landa says those who have placed deposits have been given a general timeframe, and a preliminary specification and price range for their chosen device. “Because the specification isn’t final, the price can’t be, either,” he says.

The price at the high end will be “in comparable terms to the equivalent offset presses”, yet Landa is expecting to deliver the lowest cost-per-page and cost of ownership when presses begin being used in earnest. The vision is to bring digital printing into the mainstream by making it affordable and viable for run lengths running into thousands. 

One local company that was convinced by Landa – at least initially – was IBS Design Resources, based on the Gold Coast. The trade printer’s managing director, Scott Siganto, says he signed a letter of intent to purchase a B2 or B1 press, which would have cost in the region of $1.5 million to $2 million, but changed his mind before the deadline for the down payment.

“That money is better off in our cash flow for the next three years,” explains Siganto.

It’s noteworthy that future machines could be Landa’s own brand or co-branded with partners such as Komori, Manroland or Heidelberg. “We can deliver it ourselves or we can pass the LOI on to a partner,” says Landa, which opens up a more than nano-sized debate about whether Landa will ever ship its own product.

Some believe Landa will license its know-how and make money from the ink and consumables, leaving its partners to produce the actual printing machinery. And some pundits believe that, come Ipex 2014, the ‘Landa effect’ will be apparent in the number of machines sprouting touchscreen interfaces, even if they’re not of the three-metre-wide variety.