Breaking The Mould In Digital Flatbed Printing

The world's first Columbia Turbo 220 flatbed inkjet printer, manufactured by Inca Digital, has been installed by German digital printer Schliepercolor, based in Essen.

The world's first Columbia Turbo 220 flatbed inkjet printer, manufactured by Inca Digital, has been installed by German digital printer Schliepercolor, based in Essen.

The Columbia Turbo 220 has a wider flatbed measuring 3.2m x 2.2m as opposed to the standard Columbia Turbo size of 3.2m x 1.6m.

Schlieper uses the system to provide customers with point-of-sale (POS) and lenticular work as well as working in more specialised areas such as ceramic tile printing.

Volker Muller from Schlieper said: "We have moved increasingly towards digital printing since 1998 as the technology not only provides increased flexibility but opens up numerous market opportunities for us.

We initially considered purchasing a Columbia Turbo inket printer, but following discussions with Inca Digital, we found out that it was possible for the machine to be made with a much wider flatbed.

We were very impressed when we saw the size of the Columbia Turbo 220 and are delighted that we can now meet the needs of our clients' biggest and boldest promotional campaigns.

An expanding market for us is printing personalised ceramic tiles.

The size of the Columbia Turbo 220 flatbed accommodates twice as many tiles as a standard size Columbia machine, which gives us the increased throughput required to meet the growing demand." Muller continued to say that the Columbia Turbo 220 breaks the mould in terms of size, as well as being capable of offering speed and quality.

Even running at its fastest print speed setting (160 square metres an hour) the Turbo is capable of high resolution and the company is currently producing 500 tourist maps per week for a client.

Despite the fact that Schliepercolor runs the job on maximum output, the customer was amazed with the quality and registration.

The Columbia Turbo 220 can print directly on to a variety of substrates up to 2.2m wide including paper, board, wood, textiles, glass, flexible and rigid plastic and are suitable for printing uneven surfaces, so excellent results can be obtained even on single-faced corrugated board and foam, said Inca.

The company believes that inkjet technology provides a level of flexibility that is quickly becoming the norm in today's printing industry.

The introduction of the wider bed specification of Columbia Turbo is an additional benefit for increased capability and it is the desire for flexibility that establishes inkjet technology as one of the fastest growing sectors in print today.

Schliepercolor, which employs 100 staff, was established as a screen-printing company in 1975 and now offers a range of digital services to commercial and trade customers from all over Europe.

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