Xeikon, an innovator in digital color printing technology, will unveil its new Xeikon 8000 Series of digital color presses at drupa 2012, taking place in Düsseldorf, Germany from May 3-16, 2012. The new series of presses, which has been developed specifically for the document printing market, makes Xeikon's highest image quality, highest productivity and lowest running costs available across its entire duplex-printing product line. This enables all users - from smaller short-run print shops to large print service providers - to take advantage of the company's top-end technology. Comprising three models, the Xeikon 8500, Xeikon 8600 and Xeikon 8800, the new series also offers Xeikon users an upgrade path for growth. In addition, all models come equipped with Xeikon's new Toner Optimization Mode (TOM), which depending on the application can reduce toner usage up to 50%. This Toner Optimization Mode will allow users to reduce their running costs significantly, while enabling them to compete with lower quality printing solutions for smaller job sizes and reprints.

With the launch of the Xeikon 8000 Series, all three of Xeikon's current duplex presses (Xeikon 5000, 6000 and 8000) will be standardized onto the 8000 platform. This optimizes the portfolio and provides upgrade and trade-in possibilities to current users of the Xeikon 5000 or Xeikon 6000 presses. The Xeikon 5000, which is the entry-model, mainly active in lower volume direct mail work and short run commercial print, will be superseded by the 8500. Similarly, users of the Xeikon 6000 now have an upgrade path to the new platform via the Xeikon 8600. The Xeikon 8000 is superseded by the Xeikon 8800, bringing productivity improvements not available before.

Customer-driven innovation

"The development of the new Xeikon 8000 Series is a good example of customer-driven innovation," says Danny Mertens, Xeikon's Director of Segment Marketing, Document Printing. "Staying close to customers on a daily basis enables the Xeikon team to really understand our customer's true needs. At the top of their list are image quality and format flexibility, and the need to remain profitable. We took this feedback directly back to the lab, took all the advantages of the existing 8000 press and bundled them into a new expanded series. This enabled us to bring all the advantages of our top-end technology to all our customers - from the smaller, short-run print shops to the large print service providers."

All models now feature the same high precision LED-array imaging technology used in the current Xeikon 8000 press, which combines true 1200 dpi resolution and 4-bit per spot color depth to deliver the finest commercial print quality on the market today and offers the ideal solution for microtext applications. In addition, the move up from mono-roll image development to duo-roll image development delivers much smoother solids.

Both the 8500 and 8600 models offer significant speed increases compared to their predecessors. Customers who upgrade to the 8500 will gain a speed upgrade from 130 A4/137 letter-size pages per minute (ppm) to 160 A4/170 letter-size ppm. Users upgrading to the 8600 would see a speed upgrade from 160 A4/170 letter-size ppm to 195 A4/207 letter-size ppm. All machines are speed upgradable in the field. Running costs are also considerably lower with up to 20% savings on usage part costs, mainly related to the improvements in usage parts lives. All three models, including the Xeikon 8800, come equipped with the new X-800 Digital Front End, which features a brand new state-of-the-art user interface called MyPress, built from the ground up from the input of operators in the field.

All presses in the new series retain the full format flexibility that Xeikon has become renowned for over the last 15 years. Since 1997, Xeikon presses have been able to print on webs up to 50cm (19.7 inches) wide and, due to the full rotary imaging process, unlimited in length, enabling B2 paper size formats which is a very important functionality for many print shops.

"Many of our customers are printing a huge variety of different applications and format flexibility of the Xeikon press gives them a real advantage," continues Mertens. "Very often they are smaller print shops who are very dedicated to a certain set of customers. The Xeikon 8500 is the ideal solution for them as it offers offset image quality at full width and a lower running cost. It is also the perfect upgrade path for future growth for those with older Xeikon machine generations."

Supporting the full breath of document printing applications

The new Xeikon 8000 series supports the whole range of document printing applications with specific advantages for each:

• Transactional: With one engine print capacity of up to 300,000 pages per day in native IPDS mode in five colors.
• Textbook printing: Handles ultra-light stock (down to 40 gsm/27 lb. text) and the 1200 dpi resolution allows for fine print of technical drawings and small characters.
• Short run commercial print, point of sales and wallpaper production: Prints on a B2 format and is unlimited in length.
• Photo book printing: Runs offset print quality on a large range of substrates without the need for pretreatment. Up to 504 mm/19.8 inch imaging width and unlimited in length provide a lot of possibilities for special formats, covers and dust-jackets.
• Direct marketing: Workflow possibilities that fit seamlessly in today's multichannel communication context. Paper is increasingly becoming a VIP medium for marketers because it creates privacy time with the consumer. The Xeikon 8000 Series offers possibilities in print quality and format flexibility to make printed materials stand out and create true stopping power.

Toner Optimization Mode reduces running costs drastically

All new models in the new Xeikon 8000 Series come equipped with Xeikon's new Toner Optimization Mode (TOM). The new mode is operator selectable on the press via the new X-800 MyPress GUI. Through TOM, different tone curves are applied when transmitting pixel data to the imaging system. As a result, customers can save up to 50% on their toner usage, drastically reducing their running costs. This flexibility allows Xeikon customers to compete with lower quality printing solutions for smaller jobs sizes and reprints as needed and it also enables them to find the right balance between print quality and price based on the requirements of a specific job.

"TOM is another example of innovation being driven by our customers," says Mertens. "Typically, they are printing a mix of applications ranging from lower-value transactional work to high-value direct marketing jobs. There's a lot of short run, low-end jobs for which there's often no real need to deliver the top-end image quality. High speed inkjet is not an alternative due to startup costs and application limitations. TOM now gives our customers this flexibility and reduces their running costs significantly. Our customers are also seeking out ways to offer their clients a choice on print quality. TOM now enables them to offer their customers an alternative print quality at a different price."

All three models of the new Xeikon 8000 Series will start shipping in September 2012. Starting at drupa, Xeikon will discontinue the production of the Xeikon 5000plus, Xeikon 6000 and Xeikon 8000 models.

Live demos of product showcased at drupa 2012

Customers visiting the Xeikon booth at drupa 2012 will have the opportunity to experience the new products first hand. The Xeikon 8800 will be running a high-end direct marketing job called Modo, a loyalty card program and a mission critical private banking application called Avancé. The Xeikon 8500 will be running a state of the art example of integrated communication possibilities. Xeikon will exhibit in Hall 8A, Booth B44.