Mr. Priyatosh Kumar, FUJIFILM India speaks about the machine’s digital capabilities, popularity with photo printers and versatility along commercial printing, packaging, labels and more.
Revoria Press PC 1120 from FUJIFILM’s stable is a hot favourite with Printers in India. The PC 1120’s success is no secret. When asked about the secret of this press becoming a quick success in a short span of two years since its launch in December 2021, Mr. Priyatosh Kumar, Associate Director & Head of Graphic Communications & Device Technology Business, FUJIFILM India sites a number of reasons: “FUJIFILM’s strength in innovation and technology enables us to bring unique products to the market that caters to multifaceted requirements of customers. In addition, our commitment and curiosity to keep the ears close to the ground and keep enhancing the product features to meet the evolving needs of customers contributed to the huge success of the Revoria Press PC 1120.”
He says that the positive macroeconomic factor in India – where the economy is growing steadily – is leading to a healthy growth within printing services especially digital printing. Besides, there is a change in the dynamics within the photo printing segment with customers now preferring CMYK prints versus traditional silver halide. And, within the CMYK domain there is a requirement of superior quality at better ROI’s, this is where the Revoria Press PC 1120 wins.
Our Partner’s (Insight Print Communication) expansive service network straddling across Tier 1 and 2 towns and cities has been a major factor for the press to penetrate deeper into the market.
Almost 50 percent of Revoria Press PC 1120’s customers are Photo Printers. Photo market in itself has been undergoing dramatic changes over the last 10-15 years, says Priyatosh. From traditional silver halide to CMYK print to now digitalization of memories, a lot of transformation has happened. “We also observe a different consumer behavioral pattern within various regions of India. I feel we at Fujifilm have observed this intently and positioned our product, accordingly, keeping all these factors in mind,” he continues.
The Revoria PC 1120 is a versatile product with 6 stations and 10 colour options to choose from. Customer has a full option of scalability from 4 colours to using all 10 colours. 1 year in the launch FUJIFILM did a drive with its initial installs in photo segment and observed its customers intently, heard them and came up with a unique RGB workflow through the Revoria Flow. “This enabled superior rendition of skin tones with pink colour as a 5th station. Fujifilm’s deep-seated knowledge and legacy of photo, processing and prints helps the cause. All these reasons add up to it being a choice of photo printers,” explains Priyatosh what makes the PC 1120 a perfect photo printing choice.
The FUJIFILM Revoria Press PC 1120 was launched in December 2021 and since then its installation base has grown to 34 units. “The 35th installation is going on in East India as we speak,” discloses Priyatosh. “As for the future, the good news is that we are readying ourselves for a spate of new launches in the POD domain (as also in the Analogue domain) which the industry has been waiting for. This being the Drupa year, we have a lot to offer to our customers. I expect it to be a busy year with hectic activity,” he further reveals.
Apart from the Revoria Press PC 1120 the other popular and efficient machines from the FUJIFILM stable include the EC 1100 launched in August last year. The 100 PPM POD Device caters to the quick print and commercial printing market. It runs at speeds of 100 pages a minute with elaborate media flexibility of up to 400 GSM. The press comes with FUJIFILM’s reliable feeder transport and advanced automated features. “We have notched up quite a few installations of this versatile press as well in a short span. The feedback from customers is encouraging. The press is used to run a variety of applications on specialty papers, coated, uncoated sheets, banner prints enabling all paper based short run products,” shares Priyatosh. FUJIFILM’s Photo Imaging Division team (PI Division) has also launched an entry production press designed for photo market. It is the Apeos Pro for photo at speeds of 65 PPM and 85 PPM.
Priyatosh agrees that the PC 1120 has been overplayed as a photo-only press, though the press is equally popular among commercial customers. “We have very prestigious installations in commercial offset printers as well as a quick printing segment. Our textured toner (that has the ability to do an overlay on textured paper) is very appreciated by the commercial printers. In addition to that, pink and gold toners are being utilized in numbers for unique applications of invitations and cards. The combination of various colours with the underlay and overlays expands the creativity of commercial printing operators. Many of our customers are using white as an underlay for a lot of short run label applications. In quick print segment, high quality, fast speeds leading to enhanced productivity and our unique “toner out” model is helping us get traction,” explains Priyatosh.
The key USP
The presses, especially the digital ones have come a long way from being known for their quality and speed, which are now default standards of any digital printing device, says Priyatosh. The Revoria PC 1120 is a perfect example. “More than the quality and speed aspects, its ability to enable printers with additional colours is a key differentiator. In addition to that, the overall reliability of presses, the service assurance, Fujifilm’s long-term commitment to customers with newer products and technology makes the customer feel safe and connected with the brand,” he asserts.
Elaborating this further, he says, “With 6-colour capabilities customers are better placed to present increased gamut and versatile applications. Colors like pink expand the overall gamut to standard CMYK. We have a customer who has used silver and gold in combination at CMYK to create high quality invitation cards. Another has utilized the textured toner to do high quality coffee table book on special papers. Yet another has created a unique menu card designed on colour papers using white and gold. The clear toner has also been utilized for some of the specialty applications used for security. White toners are used for short run label applications. Another customer is using PVC sheets for ID card printing on our press. I can go on and on, the possibilities are endless. All these samples will be exhibited during PAMEX where it can be witnessed by a large set of target audience.”
While EC 1100 caters to mid volume requirements to the tune of 150K to 200K impressions, the PC 1120 is a high-end machine that suits large volume and high-quality requirements. It is a versatile machine that can also do packaging applications with its ability to handle higher microns and 400 GSM paper. The press has efficiently done short run packaging boxes. Then also there are label applications that have been done on same standards.
Speaking about FUJIFILM’s recent exhibition participations, Priyatosh shares, “We will be there at Pamex showcasing our entire line of products from Device technology to Graphic products that include both analogue and Digital. We will be launching new Device Technology products there. We will also be in Drupa 2024 where our offerings will cut into a cross section of products both in commercial and industrial space. In the digital print on demand category there are quite a few launches that will be showcased including the Revoria B2 press. While we will also be sharing the portfolio of wide format inkjet space along with digital devices for packaging. We will also be showcasing new developments in Plates offering.”
“I would want to show gratitude to all the customers and encourage them to come and see our products. We have been successful in the Indian market for many years with our analogue products. We have now launched our digital portfolio as well. We provide the most comprehensive solution in Graphic Industry and will be happy to collaborate with them to work and solve most of their problems,” he concludes.
