Xaar has revealed the first OEM adopters of its GS12 inkjet printhead for ceramic tile production, with a range of printers set for launch at this week's Tecnargilla 2012 event.

The 1001 series printhead, which is targeted at applications that require bold colours and "deep colour intensity", jets larger 12 to 84 picolitre drops than the company's established GS6 printhead.

Manufacturers including Intesa-Sacmi, Kerajet, Projecta SiTi B&T, and TecnoFerrari VivaJet will all showcase new machines featuring the GS12 technology at the 24-28 September show in Italy.

Intesa-Sacmi is presenting its second-generation Colora HD2 series of printers that can print up to six-colours with models that offer web widths from 697 to 1675mm.

Kerajet is using the event to showcase its K700 and K1400 systems that feature the Xaar 1001 GS12, while manufacturer Projecta SiTi B&T has equipped its Evoseven Plus, Evofive Plus and Evothree Plus machines with the new printhead.

These machines can print from three- to seven-colour and on tiles up to 1.33m wide. In addition, Tecnargilla will feature the launch of the single-pass TecnoFerrari VivaJet machine, which can print up to eight-colour at speeds up to 70m per minute.

Xaar also confirmed that EFI Cretaprint and New King Time are also working on new machines that feature the GS12 technology while two other manufacturers, Hope and Meijia, are also working with the new heads.

The GS12 features the company's TF Technology and Hybrid Side Shooter architecture, which enables ink in the printhead to flow directly past the back of the nozzle.

According to Xaar, this means the nozzles are continuously primed, allowing single-pass printers to run for a full production shift with minimal maintenance.

Xaar director of marketing Mark Alexander said it was a "major endorsement" that eight manufacturers are taking advantage of the company's new technology.

"Their customers will benefit from maximum productivity and therefore a quicker return on investment as a result," he added.