Widthwise 2024


Mike Horsten, Senior press manager DPC, Agfa


This year’s data shows that UK PSP investment in wide-format print technology overall is still low - 78% will spend under £20,000 over the next two years.


How is that affecting your R+D and sales strategies?


More than half (55%) say they will not buy a new wide-format printer in that period.


Of those that say they will be buying a new large-format printer in the next two years, most will be looking for a UV curable flatbed printer. Is this the predominant focus of your own large-format printer R+D?


Q3 Q4


Asked what, if any, strategic changes they expect to make within the next two years, ‘improve workflow efficiencies’ came top, with 40% saying that would be a focus. What are you doing to help them do this?


Asked ‘what are your three greatest concerns for your business in 2024?’ energy costs came out top, with 79% flagging that up.


Q5 Q6


To what extent is energy efficiency a focus of your equipment R+D?


24 | Widthwise 2024 | www.imagereports.co.uk


There are many smaller sign shops that will invest under £20,000, but there is also a group that spends over £500,000. We are a company targeting the higher end of the market, with machines up to 1450m2/ hr and we offer automation for full robotisation of the production. This is not for everybody and not everybody has the volume to justify the investments.


As for our R&D, we are continuing to look at AI for production workflow optimisation and the better use of the footprint needed for our machinery. Remember, staffing is one of the larger production problems, trying to get people to operate in three shifts is not easy, hence the introduction and focus on automation.


Today, the hybrid printers are as good as the pure flatbed - the transportation of the media and the accuracy of the print have made tremendous steps in the last years. We believe that a hybrid printer can offer more flexibility to the customer, is easier to automate and offers the same quality at higher speeds than a flatbed. The floorspace of a flatbed is also larger than a hybrid machine and in smaller shops this is really important.


As for R&D, the focus is to offer field upgradable solutions - think about our new Bronco printer that is field upgradable from a two-row of printheads to a four-row, which would double the speed of the printer. As its field upgradable the customer can wait till he needs it and it would be installed at his premises.


At Agfa, we have been developing software solutions for many years. If you look at Asanti, you can see that automation and improvements in the workflow of customers is at the forefront of our attention. We also believe that the next years are crucial to invest in the right workflow. A standalone Rip system is not the right way to go anymore. Integration with ERP systems, mobile platforms and web-to-print are essential for the growth of these companies.


We believe strongly in the use of durable energy and we also work on reducing the energy cost of operations of our machinery. Although there are many ways to reduce energy the impact of using wide-format printers is not that big (unless you use high energy consumption devices). Again, if the equipment is old the energy consumption would be higher than new equipment with LED, faster curing inks and more.


We at Agfa monitor all the usage of our printers we build and if we can lower the consumption, we will. It is our duty to deliver on our promise to be ‘powerful by nature’.


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