In 2012, Landa introduced its new “Nanoprint” inkjet press technology and accompanying line of presses to great fanfare, something that founder Benny Landa has a history of doing so well. It was estimated that, at the event, 400 businesses lined up to purchase a letter of intent for the first batch of presses that would come off the production line. At that time, I wrote about the announcement here and here, and subsequently here . Of the initial six presses shown, three of them were sheetfed. They showed 20-, 29-, and 41-inch widths or, in ISO parlance, a B2, B3, and B1, respectively, that were estimated to run at a minimum of 6,500 sph and potentially up to 13,000 sph. They also showed three webfed devices that were also targeted at both offset and digital production of commercial and packaging applications.

Of the presses that were shown, the sheetfed B1 format S10 and the perfecting S10P make up the currently installed base and are indeed unique presses, targeting the drawbacks of production inkjet by using an “offset” inkjet imaging technology, and a solid Komori transport for the sheetfed versions. They were also developed to introduce a degree of machine learning automation and an operator UI that provided a blueprint for a lot of what we are seeing in many of the digital and even analog presses currently being introduced today. So, if it was so groundbreaking, why are there only about 25 presses installed some 10 years later—and are we finally seeing a turnaround in adoption?

I have to say that I was as impressed at the initial 400 companies that signed letters of intent back in 2012. I believe that most of us were captivated with the introductory presentations and, importantly, the ground-breaking technology, just as we were with the Indigo presses that Benny Landa introduced at IPEX in 1993. However, as we have seen many times as the latest new technologies are introduced, it usually does take a while from that initial introduction to the point when it is ready for reliable production. There has been a running joke amongst some analysts and media that it takes at least two drupas, or about 8–10 years, before an initially shown product is ready for production.