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New environmentally-friendly legislation is continuing to change the way most wide-format print providers run their businesses. Since solvent-based ink is volatile and releases chemicals into the air, health concerns are coming to the forefront. New laws mandating the reduction of VOCs are leading many printer manufacturers to develop less volatile inks and as well as a plethora of new eco and mild solvent printers to go along with them.
It's evident that this product sector is continuing to see more growth with a host of 'green-friendly' products being introduced in 2007. According to IT Strategies, the installed base of eco-solvent printers grew from just over 60,000 printers in 2006 and is predicted to increase to almost 110,000 in 2011, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13 percent. Revenues from the sale of printers, ink and media for eco-solvent printers will grow from $2.2 billion in 2006 to $2.9 billion in 2011, a CAGR of six percent.
"Eco-solvent printers have provided an economical way to enter the market for many first time purchasers, such as sign shops, that needed to print outdoor applications," said Patti Williams at I.T. Strategies. "Our research shows that these eco-solvent printers are used for both outdoor as well as indoor applications, making them very versatile printers which have, for the most part, halted the growth of high-end aqueous printers in pay for print (PFP) signage applications. They have also impacted aggressive solvent printers to some extent as small sign shops bring in-house work that in the past was outsourced to a PFP shop with a high-end solvent printer."
Replacing Older Models
"The biggest trend we are seeing right now is the replacement of older aqueous based printers with new eco-solvent printers," said Brian Phipps, Mutoh America's eastern regional sales manager. "This is because the quality of solvent printing has increased tremendously due to the Epson piezo head technology, plus the cost of the ink, supplies, and hardware has come way down. The return on investment for an end user is very fast with eco-solvent printers these days. End users have been known to pay off their new eco-solvent or mild-solvent printers in the first few jobs because of the increased profit margins they are enjoying. We've also noticed a large trend in the request for 'greener' inks. Eco-solvent and the new 'Mubio' corn based inks have had the most demand in recent months because of their much reduced VOCs. As environmental issues continue to be a hot button in the media and elsewhere, we don't see this trend slowing down anytime soon."
To answer this trend, Mutoh recently added some new environmentally-friendly models to its line-up. The new Mutoh Value Jet 1608 Hybrid prints on either rigid substrates or roll to roll. The Value Jet 1618 offers faster printing using two sets of offset print heads. "Both of these new printers use new environmentally-friendly corn based Bio Ink that is recognized by the EPA for its 'Design for the Environment Program'. These inks are 100 percent biodegradable," pointed out Gary Rudnick, product marketing manager at Mutoh America Inc.
Rudnick continued, "the mild/eco-solvent market continues to grow at the expense of the aqueous inkjet market. Mutoh's new Blizzard high performance 65- and 90-inch printers come in at an affordable price point and are fully configurable for either eco- or mild-solvent ink. These printers use two sets of four staggered print heads to achieve faster printing speeds."
When looking at environmental standards needed to be met for a mild/solvent printer to be installed a shop, Rundick said that environmental standards are not only set by the EPA on the federal level but each state and local municipality may also impose standards. "Individual MSDS sheets will spell out the exact health and safety risk for each ink. Mutoh's 3rd generation Eco-Ultra ink requires no special ventilation or environmental equipment. Eco-Ultra is safe to use and odorless, which ensures a comfortable working environment."
Rudnick added that there currently is no across the board government standard for printer ink compatibility. "Environmental standards are not only set by the EPA on the federal level but each state and local municipality may also impose standards. Print head and ink delivery systems support certain ink sets. Cost of ink sets and printer usage plays an important part on deciding if you should use an eco-solvent or mild solvent cartridge or bulk ink system," Rudnick pointed out..
Flexible Inksets
Mimaki USA features two types of solvent inks for its JV33 wide-format printer line. "Mimaki has offered an eco-solvent ink for the last four years now it remains a small part of our ink sales. The SS-2 and now SS-21 inks for the new JV33 line offer a broader gamut, faster drying time, scratch resistance and alcohol resistance than our ES-3 Eco-Solvent inks," said Steve Urmano, marketing manager at Mimaki USA. "All of Mimaki's solvent printers can run both ink sets, and still our Standard Solvent (SS Inks) outsell and outperform the eco-solvent lines. This may turn at some point in the future but we don't see this trend near term," he concluded.
Ideal for Vehicle Applications
"This market is growing constantly," said Randy Paar, product manager, Display Graphics Systems, Océ North America. "There has been a lot of focus on UV curable technology lately, but solvent has its place. For example, low solvent inks can be used to create vehicle graphics, which is not an ideal application for UV inks."
As far as trends he is seeing higher quality output due to grayscale (variable drop) printheads and/or higher resolution machines. "In some segments, such as value-priced printers, higher quality and improved productivity can be attributed to new printing technologies and multiple printheads."
Océ offers the Océ CS9000 Series of low- and eco-solvent printers. These printers use Océ CS9000 VariaDot imaging technology that produces dots with variable drop sizes to deliver finer details, smoother gradients and sharper images.
"The Océ CS9000 Series also includes WAVE Stitching (prints in waves instead of bands), resulting in higher print quality, improved productivity and increased media versatility," said Paar.
When looking at how Océ's printers meet environmental guidelines, we spoke with Ed Lensen, international product manager at Océ Display Graphics Systems. "Cyclohexanone is a component of concern in many low-solvent-based inks, paints, etc. We have moved away from this chemistry with the introduction of the Océ CS9000 Series. The eco-solvent inks available for the Océ CS9065 and Océ CS9090, and are standard on the Océ CS9060, enable our customers to use these units in locations that would not have accommodated a solvent printer in the past. For those customers that need a more aggressive ink, we offer low-solvent inks for the Océ CS9065 and Océ CS9090 along with an optional Air Purification System to ensure a clean and safe working environment," said Lensen.
Green Guidelines at Roland
Rick Scrimger, VP and GM for Roland's Color Products Division sees growth in this end of the market continuing at a steady clip. "We report steady growth in our business and we expect this trend to continue. As a company, Roland strives to meet the world's highest environmental standards. Accordingly, every Roland printer is designed and manufactured through sustainable practices that meet ISO 14021 standards. These standards require the company's manufacturing practices to: prevent global warming, use recyclable resources, increase environmental awareness and disclose information on the environmental attributes of the product. ISO 14021 compliance is part of a decade-long Roland initiative to reduce the environmental impact of our operations and products."
Scrimger pointed out that Roland manufacturing is based on a system he calls "Digital Yatai". "Digital Yatai is a revolutionary cell-based manufacturing system that is entirely paperless and driven in part by solar panels constructed by employees to save energy. At the design level, Roland has procedures in place that introduce life cycle assessment (LCA) and promote the development of products that prevent global warming, use recyclable resources and increase environmental awareness."
More Indoor/Outdoor Output Solutions
Tomas Martin, future products manager, Large Format Printers at HP's Imaging and Printing Group, also sees these 'greener' printing solutions offering more output options for output providers. "From an overall market perspective, mild/eco-solvent technology is moving towards providing printing solutions that can deliver both indoor and outdoor applications with a single technology. In that sense, improvements in image quality and media flexibility are helping to produce high-quality applications for indoor placement. Additionally, low-odor solutions allow these applications to be placed in closed spaces."
Martin pointed out that HP is strategically moving towards offering new standards that will help customers to have more comfortable print environments while also expanding the types of applications, from indoor to outdoor, that can be developed. "We are working on a number of things across our solutions portfolio, and expect to have more information about our products that enable printing with the environment in mind later in 2008."
For information on EPA guidelines for eco-solvent inks, shops can visit www.epa.gov/epahome/rules.html. Additionally, OSHA guidelines are available online at www.osha.gov. Other informative industry sources include SGIA (www.sgia.org) and the Photo Marketing Association International (www.pmai.org).
author: BY BILL SCHIFFNER