Cologne (Germany) – 20 August 2007 – Germany's first wide-format inkjet system, :Anapurna M by Agfa Graphics, was installed mid July at Hansen Werbung's facilities in a business park in Reinbek near Hamburg. "With its 14-picoliter print heads and the Agfa-made UV-curable :Anapurna ink our new printing system reaches a photorealistic quality with such a high resolution that text remains crisp and sharp down to 4-point font sizes in logotypes for instance. This is a crucial factor in the production of POS displays in particular," highlights Managing Director Martin Hansen what he believes is the main benefit of the innovative inkjet print system. "Furthermore, our customers are delighted with the luminosity of the colours." Hansen Werbung produces all kinds of advertising material primarily for well-known brands in the fashion industry as well as manufacturers of spectacles. High print quality and an accurate reproduction down to the tiniest detail combined with finest skin tone gradations are an absolute requirement.
"Another advantage of the :Anapurna M is its huge flexibility when it comes to substrates. On the one hand this flexibility opens entirely new possibilities for implementing our ideas in the production of wide-format POS displays. On the other hand, with the :Anapurna M, we can print directly on rigid media up to a thickness of 45 mm, made of a variety of materials such as wood, metal or glass, which significantly reduces production costs. At the same time, the POS material produced in this way has a much more stylish appearance," adds Hansen.
Agfa Graphics had introduced the :Anapurna M for the first time at FESPA Berlin 2007. Owing to its hybrid design, the innovative system is capable of processing both flexible roll media and rigids with a printable width of 158 cm (62 in) and several metres of printing length. The re-adjustment of the machine from roll media to flatbed or vice versa can be achieved within minutes and does not take longer than changing the media without a reset. The :Anapurna M features a six-colour system, including a light cyan and a light magenta, with resolutions up to 1440 dpi and a high printing speed of up to 161 square feet per hour (15 sq.m/hr).
The innovative wide-format inkjet system was installed and commissioned by the experts of Agfa's Hamburg-based distributor, Computer Laser Center Nord (CLC Nord). The installation was complete within two days, giving Hansen Werbung the option to begin production straightaway. "Contrary to many other manufacturers, with the :Anapurna M, Agfa Graphics launched at FESPA a wide-format inkjet system ready for volume production. This allowed us to welcome Hansen Werbung as a 'pioneering' customer within only four weeks of the launch," said CLC Nord Managing Director, Werner Diekmann.
Meanwhile, more than ten :Anapurna M systems have been installed throughout Europe, and further installations will take place in the coming days. Altogether, Agfa Graphics has sold over 70 systems in its :Anapurna range, which currently includes the :Anapurna L, : Anapurna XL, :Anapurna XL2 (say "XL square") and :Anapurna M models. All these systems are based on Agfa Graphics' C3 concept. C3 stands for: Complete Integration – Complete Benefits – Complete Services. "The :Anapurna M was developed with the goal of obtaining the best possible print quality that can be achieved on a flatbed printer at the moment. One need only have seen the print quality of the system to understand the huge success of this market launch," explains Harry Hoppe who is responsible for industrial inkjet printing systems at Agfa Graphics in Germany.