26th August 2008 –  Since its commercial launch by Inca Digital last year, the Inca Onset has gone from strength to strength, and the company is now delivering one machine every month. This is an incredible achievement and more than doubles the expectations of the company. The secret of its success is that, apart from being incredibly fast for a large format inkjet printer, it has outstanding quality.

The Inca Onset is the world's fastest and fully-automated digital UV flatbed printer and has had a major impact on the industry since its debut. Industry response to this record breaking printer has been so high that Inca's machine production has been increased to meet demand. Nine of the flagship systems have already been installed: four in the UK and; three in North America and one each in Holland and Spain.

Flatbed digital inkjet printing has already demonstrated exceptional print quality and a viable return on investment for short run production. The Onset's ability to print up to 600 sqm/hr (125 full bed sheets), with newly launched bi-directional speeds, at a high quality level has led to comparisons with screen printing productivity.  The Onset requires only one operator and can print on substrates up to 15mm thick in manual mode and 10mm in automatic. This, as well as edge to edge imaging and a choice of gloss or satin finishes, delivers enormous versatility in terms of what can be printed.

The applications are wide ranging: display POP, exhibition graphics, backlit displays and outdoor signage printing are at the top of the list. Add the personalisation capabilities into the mix and a whole new raft of opportunities open up. The Inca Onset is the next generation of digital printing, not only in the high growth, large format display market, but also in the wider commercial print market currently served by the extra large format offset presses.

It is not easy to build a machine that moves a large graphic with spot-on, four-colour registration on 125 (150x300cm) pieces per hour, while laying down 3 billion droplets per second. To achieve this Inca has incorporated several technological advancements. The Onset is built with the intelligence to identify faulty nozzles and remap the printing instructions to other nozzles to assure that quality is not compromised. The Onset has 24 print modules, each containing 24 printheads with onboard electronics and data handling, and each module is capable of interpreting data and correctly imparting droplets. The placement of each drop has to be controlled very accurately using linear drives which allow smoother motion of the bed to ensure fine text and clean lines.

Holland & Crosby is an expert in point of sale marketing materials in Mississauga, Canada and has had its Onset for 5 months. Marketing director August Petrolo says: "The quality we have seen from the Onset is exceptional. The materials it creates will have tremendous impact in retail environments. Our customers are particularly impressed with the quality of the gloss settings. In fact, our customers were prodding us to install the Inca Onset as fast as possible, so we could begin work for them."

"The international response to the Onset is phenomenal," says Inca Digital Chairman Nigel Puttergill. "The success of this printer in handling heavy production loads is attracting huge interest and we expect to reach 15 installations by the end of the year."