With just hours to go until FESPA London opens tomorrow, it's time to take stock of what to go and see. First off, having checked the floor plan, and the handy FESPA App, it is worth noting the exhibitors and products that won't be present.
In terms of exhibitors, Ricoh's absence is a surprise; the show would seem to be the perfect time to talk about its upcoming wide-format engine, the Ricoh Pro L4000 (which is based on the same platform as the Mimaki JV400LX series) and its broader wide-format strategy. The firm first made a noise about products in this sector in the run up to drupa 2012 with the announcement of both the Pro L4000, aimed at the display graphics producers, and the Aficio MP CW2200, which uses Ricoh's novel Gel Ink technology and targets AEC and CAD.
One notable new exhibitor this time round is Xerox; it seems likely that this company will major on the Memjet-based high-speed single-pass machine previewed by Fuji Xerox last year in Düsseldorf. However, it may also have more up its sleeve. It will be worth seeing, in particular, if it has finally settled on a game plan for the wide-format market, having vacillated in the past few years about whether it was in or out, and whether it was sticking to AEC and CAD or widening out into graphics. Its decision to show at FESPA suggests the latter, and provides an ideal opportunity for further clarification.
The other notable Memjet-based development emanating from drupa was Canon's Océ Velocity technology demonstration. Canon is in attendance, and this will be the first FESPA where its brand is at the fore, rather than Océ. While it has announced a new Arizona – the 600 series – as yet there is no word on whether Velocity will reappear here. Lastly, Repro Technology International, Own-X and Memjet will be showing the Vortex 4200, and as the only Memjet-based machine currently commercially available it will be worth sniffing out its uptake and user reception.
Although latex is still emerging as a technology, pioneer HP will show its new industrial-strength machines heading up a simplified product line-up based thereon. And it's not alone: we'll also witness the progress that Mimaki and Bordeaux have made with their own second-generation alternative latex technologies. That mouthful may sound like a missing Prince album, but if you think latex might fit your business, each is worth investigating as an alternative to the HP way.
Bordeaux, as an after-market ink firm, may be interesting for printers wanting to repurpose an older machine, or for dealers and integrators looking to pull together a package. Mimaki, on the other hand, is noteworthy as the only mainstream vendor to come up with a complete system, and seems determined to take latex into new markets. Finally, Sepiax – the first firm to offer a latex-like ink apart from HP – will also be exhibiting; however, it hasn't provided any update on its products and partners prior to the show.
In the mid and high end of the UV-curable flat-bed and hybrid market it will be worth taking note of how successful major vendors, such as Agfa, Canon, Durst, EFI, Fujifilm, HP and Screen, have been at squaring the circle with their latest devices. The key trends from pre-show announcements all point to enhanced quality, performance and application versatility, and if not all at the same time, then at least in one device. Continued development of inks, curing, materials handling and print-heads are driving this flexibility. The main advantage for the printer is the ability to handle a wider range of work without the capital expenditure, staffing and space requirements brought by multiple machines and technologies.
Lastly, but for my money offering the best potential return on investment, are developments in software. Next-generation workflow and MIS or ERP tools are promised by the likes of Caldera and GMG, and one especially interesting trend is towards additional software to improve the efficiency, productivity and workflow integration of cutting from Esko and Zünd.
But saving the very best for last, topping the list of things to see is web-to-print for wide-format houses. Caldera's announcement of a dedicated web-to-print platform for this sector is worthy of a look due to the firm's pedigree in both workflow and wide-format. That it has chosen to use established e-commerce platform Magento, an e-commerce platform used across multiple industries, as the basis of its offering may prove to be a key enabler to simpler, more flexible and affordable adoption of web-to-print, which could have implications beyond our industry.