Offset Printing
Ryobi Debuts LED-UV Curing System for SRA1
Monday 03. May 2010 - Ryobis innovative LED-UV curing system, which made its debut in B3-format at Drupa 2008 and enjoyed its first B2 appearance at the PRINT 09 event in Chicago last year, is to be shown on the SRA1 format Ryobi 920 machine at this years IPEX show in Birmingham, UK. The product will be making its European debut, and is just one of the exhibits on the Ryobi / Apex Digital Graphics stand, located in hall 6 (hall 6 stand C560).
Ryobi is the first printing press manufacturer to put LED-UV curing to practical use, and has been delighted with the reaction of the market and the interest shown in this product to date. The LED-UV curing unit replaces conventional UV lamps with long-life UV light-emitting diodes (LEDs), cutting power consumption by at least 70%. Drying times are shortened, speeding up job completion, whilst the light source should last as much as twelve times longer than conventional lamps. The system generates minimal heat and no ozone, providing a real environmental plus, and eliminating the need for exhaust equipment to handle both heat and ozone.
The LED-UV unit is now available for the two-up Ryobi 520 Series press, the B2+ format 750 Series, and the eight-up Ryobi 920 Series press. The LED-UV curing concept was awarded with the Nippon (Japan) Brand Prize at the 39th Machine Design Award competition in 2009.
This breakthrough technology is viewed by many as the most significant advancement in UV technology for 30 years. Light emitting diodes (LEDs) are extremely efficient. Instead of using electricity to heat up a metal filament, LEDs produce light by channelling an electric current through a semiconductor material. The result: close to 100% of the electricity is converted into light with virtually no waste heat generation.
Ryobi 920 with LED-UV Configuration at IPEX
In addition to the excitement shown in the market regarding the benefits on offer through its LED-UV curing system, Ryobis introduction of an SRA1 press has also caused considerable interest. The Ryobi 920, which will be shown at IPEX in a five-colour configuration equipped with LED-UV curing, provides for eight-up A4 printing at a significantly lower cost than a B1-format press.
“Most printers looking to move up from B2 format tend to focus on B1 as the next logical move, when in reality many only intend to print eight-up A4 work. A B1 press for this work is simply overkill! It would mean that the printer is running a larger, more expensive press, using oversize plates, and often oversize substrates,” said Neil Handforth, Sales and Marketing Director of Apex Digital Graphics, the UKs official Ryobi distributor.
The recently introduced Ryobi 920 Series SRA1 press offers printers the ideal solution for such a straightforward workload. It also provides a far more economical printing solution, and a significantly greener option when examining the potential savings on power consumption, plate and paper waste. It is the ideal machine for printers seeking an effective solution for 900 x 640mm printing. The Ryobi 920 is already becoming firmly established across Europe in areas that would previously have only considered the B1 option.
“Savings begin with the overall cost of the machine, which effectively offers B1 productivity for near the price of a B2 machine,” said Mr Handforth. The physical size of the press itself provides a near 35% space reduction compared with a typical B1 machine, which can be important when expensive floor space needs to be considered as part of the installation of a new machine.
“However, it really is with regard to plates when potential cost savings can start to make the £ signs shine brightly! Taking an average £10.00 per square metre for UK plate pricing, the 910 x 665mm plate size of the Ryobi 920 compared to a B1 format plate measuring 1060 x 800mm can potentially save a printer nearly 30% per plate, or £2.43 in real money. This could easily equate to some £20,000 per year for the typical print business,” continues Neil Handforth.
With regard to power consumption, the Ryobi will consume approximately 45kW per hour, whilst a typical B1 machine might expect to draw 72 kW per hour – another saving in favour of the Ryobi 920 over a typical eight hour day of some 216kW hours. With current commercial electricity pricing for daytime working at circa 9p per kW hour, that would equate to a saving for users of the Ryobi machine in the region of £100 per five day week, or in excess of £5,000 per year.
Add the potential savings on paper into the equation and you have a fairly significant total, and in tough economic times, such as those being experienced right now, these are the sort of cost reductions that are not only good news for the printer, but can make all the difference between him winning new work or not.