MemJet has unveiled a new four colour printhead, essentially a CMYK version of the DuraLink. It is ideally suited for vendors to develop reasonably compact colour print modules that can be retrofitted to label presses.

John Richardson, managing director at Inkjet Solutions, points out that the aqueous pigment inks will work quite well with some materials but accepts that customers will need to use a primer for some substrates.

He said: “The prices of inkjet inks and primers have tumbled over the last few years, so if you have a unit inline on a press then you can use a flexo unit to apply a primer.”

John also stated that while some people still prefer UV inks it’s really down to the application, adding that there is a growing acceptance of aqueous pigmented inks because they are more durable and have better lightfastness.

Inkjet Solutions is Colordyne’s UK distributor. It has been supplying various inkjet solutions for retrofitting to existing presses and has also recently started to supply inkjet modules direct to OEMs so that it can offer hybrid solutions to its customers.

John Richardson said: “The majority of our work has been adding variable data to existing presses and we have seen quite a trend for variable spot varnishing for embellishments.

“But now we are coming across the requirement for colour on press which is why we looked at the Colordyne and particularly the DuraFlex.

Inkjet Solutions is hoping to have a machine running the DuraFlex heads ready to demonstrate early next year. John Richardson said that the speed will be suitable for most applications as production speed on a flexo press is often limited by the converting rather than the printing processes.

There is an obvious argument for adding a single printer to an existing press, either for variable data or for specific effects such as spot varnishing or shot run white ink. But there is a growing realisation that inkjet now offers good enough print quality for full colour printing for short run work. This can help remove bottlenecks in production as well as adding variable data capability.