Domino Printing Sciences has announced the launch of the Domino N730i digital label press. This is a ground-up development and the first to use its new Domino Generation 7 inkjet platform. Philip Easton, director of the Domino Digital Printing Solutions division, said, “This is the most significant new product we have launched since we started in the digital label press business. It has been a huge collaborative team effort, spread over five years, involving our colleagues at Brother Industries, supplier partners, our development team and our existing customers. Today, we are so proud of what the N730i delivers, as we truly believe it is setting new standards in high-performance inkjet label printing.”
According to Domino, the N730i incorporates a host of brand new features including the Brother BITSTARTM 1200dpi piezo print head, the SunLight graphical user interface, and the latest automated Domino i-Tech intelligent Technology features i-Tech SetAlign and i-Tech CleanCap2.
Louise Adcock, global product manager at Domino Digital Printing Solutions, said, “We have almost 1,000 global installations already using our existing Generation 6 inkjet platform. During the development of the N730i, we really listened to our customers, so we are confident that this press will enable label converters to get the best return from their digital printing investment. Based on customer feedback, we focused on three key areas – providing consistent print quality at high speed, ease of use and flexibility.”
The company claims, unlike other systems where higher printing speed is at the cost of reduced print quality or reliability, the N730i is designed to print all jobs, including those with ‘silk-screen-like’ white at 70 m (230ft)/min, but still with the same consistent high print quality.
The Brother BITSTARTM 1200 dpi print head uses a combination of the smallest drop sizes of 2.1 pl and nominal drop sizes of 2.8 pl and 3.3 pl to provide consistent ink density across the image, with sharper edges and smoother gradients. Patented triple-layer polycrystalline micro piezo technology minimizes cross talk and delivers precise nozzle control for optimum drop placement accuracy.
Domino’s unique intelligent Technology or i-Tech features represent developments designed to measurably improve efficiency, use, function and reliability. i-Tech SetAlign is a new automated system that sets density and accurately aligns the print heads. The result is uniform and seamless print quality across the full web width. Domino has also enhanced performance with i-Tech CleanCap2, an automated print head cleaning and capping system, which is a controlled process reducing manual operator intervention and waste. Other i-Tech features include the established i-Tech ActiFlow, UltraMix, and WebRev.
Louise said, “In basic terms, our customers win business against their competitors on the labels they can produce, they make a profit from delivering them efficiently. The N730i’s consistent high print quality will mean they will win more business, while high speed combined with reliability means they can also print it efficiently.”
The existing user interface has been completely rewritten for the N730i with the development of the new Domino SunLight. This flexible graphical user interface with its modern look and feel is completely intuitive and highly configurable. A new enhanced version of the industry-standard Esko Digital Front End has been adopted, including improved variable data printing performance, and producing process colors including orange and violet, for lower ink usage and an increased color gamut. Support for the industry-standard JDF/JMF data transfer format allows for automated job set-up and reporting. This also means upward integration with the leading management information systems can be readily achieved.
Offering label printers maximum flexibility, the N730i is available with optional flexo stations for priming to facilitate consistent quality even on the most challenging media types, and for spot colors or varnishing, increasing the range of jobs that can be achieved, or for reverse white for cost-effective shrink sleeve applications. These flexo stations can be retrofitted, providing our customers with greater flexibility as their business needs change.
The N730i includes Domino’s own in-house developed UV90 ink set with excellent fade resistance, achieving a maximum Blue Wool Scale of eight on certain substrates. It has mechanical properties including abrasion and scratch resistance. The UV90 white ink is commonly used by customers as a silk-screen replacement achieving an opacity of up to 76%. The Textures by Domino printing capability enables tactile three-dimensional label design effects to be created for greater shelf appeal.
Philip concludes, “When we introduced our N600i and then the N610i digital label presses, our focus was to be as good as flexo. With the N730i, we believe we are offering a quality of output that sets a new high-performance inkjet standard, and perhaps now flexo needs to start catching up.”