Rival suppliers have been quick to dismiss the new features on the Xerox iGen4, with some cheekily describing the machine as "the iGen3.5". Admittedly, at first glance, the specification of the new machine may not set hearts pumping - the headline speed is, like the iGen3, 110 A4 pages per minute (ppm). So what exactly does the new machine offer over its predecessor?
According to Xerox Europe iGen business manager Martin Cronwald, it meets the most important requests from customers for what they wanted their machines to deliver: improved consistency, higher image quality, a closer match to offset output, low running costs, fast turnaround times and high uptime.Xerox claims to have increased productivity by 25-35% by improving the machine’s uptime. While more uptime may not be as headline grabbing as a higher top speed, it delivers more saleable pages in a given time, which, when it comes to improving profitability, is important. In terms of top speed, rivals HP Indigo only overtook the iGen’s 110ppm speed with the 120ppm Indigo 7000 it launched at Drupa. Kodak also announced its 120ppm Nexpress S3600, but has yet to provide a shipping date. No other manufacturer has launched a cut-sheet machine that breaks the 100ppm barrier. (Canon suggests a pair of 70ppm ImagePress 7000VPs as an alternative to an iGen.)
According to Xerox Europe iGen business manager Martin Cronwald, it meets the most important requests from customers for what they wanted their machines to deliver: improved consistency, higher image quality, a closer match to offset output, low running costs, fast turnaround times and high uptime.Xerox claims to have increased productivity by 25-35% by improving the machine’s uptime. While more uptime may not be as headline grabbing as a higher top speed, it delivers more saleable pages in a given time, which, when it comes to improving profitability, is important. In terms of top speed, rivals HP Indigo only overtook the iGen’s 110ppm speed with the 120ppm Indigo 7000 it launched at Drupa. Kodak also announced its 120ppm Nexpress S3600, but has yet to provide a shipping date. No other manufacturer has launched a cut-sheet machine that breaks the 100ppm barrier. (Canon suggests a pair of 70ppm ImagePress 7000VPs as an alternative to an iGen.)
So what are the major differences between the previous iGen and the latest incarnation? Well, for starters, there are more than 400 new parts inside the iGen4, making it around 30% different to the iGen3. The majority of the developments have been in three key areas: toner dispensing, density control and inline spectrophotometry. These all directly relate to image quality and consistency, and provide other benefits, such as lowering costs and turnaround times, as well as increasing the aforementioned uptime.
In the iGen3, the metal carrier was supplied mixed in with the toner. In the iGen4, the two consumables have been separated, which Xerox says allows greater colour accuracy and consistency, especially for tints, vignettes and flesh tones.
Elsewhere, Auto Density Control uses a high-resolution sensor to read colour patches laid down on the imaging belt. It operates in a similar way to the closed-loop colour controls on an offset press controlling ink keys to ensure a stable and level density for each colour, both across the width of the belt to eliminate streaks and banding and from sheet-to-sheet to improve consistency.
It’s important to control density across the sheet, regardless of imaging technology, says Cronwald. This is no different from an offset press operator measuring the sheet. We wanted to do it automatically on the iGen4 – it adds quality and productivity; previously, the operator needed to intervene if they saw a problem.
Quality and consistency
Inline spectrophotometry is the third key to improved image quality and consistency. Xerox has fitted an X-Rite spectrophotometer to the iGen4, which is positioned after imaging and fusing. It runs inline inside the machine to enable automated measurement and control of colour. Again, the move is similar to that by offset press vendors such as Heidelberg with its Inpress control. The benefits for a digital device should be even greater than for an offset press, due to the greater control offered by imaging directly to the paper without an intermediate plate.
Xerox UK marketing manager for production colour solutions Kevin O’Donnell has been impressed by the results. It starts as a technical conversation around calibration and colour matching, but when people see what it provides, which is job-to-job and day-to-day colour consistency, it ticks all the boxes from a productivity and quality point of view.
O’Donnell says that freeing the operator from quality monitoring and manual colour calibration is where a great deal of the improved productivity comes from. Being able to trust the press to keep to the agreed standard frees the operator up for other tasks.
You can set the spectro to self-check every X-number of sheets and you can specify the delta E limits for a job, explains O’Donnell. The press will automatically recalibrate to hit the target. Typically, we’d suggest a delta E of two, which most people can’t see. You just dial in a delta E and the machine will work within that.
At Drupa, Xerox showed a 220ppm, twin-engined duplex machine, the Concept Color 220, which combines two iGen engines, one to print each side of the sheet, but Xerox production systems vice-president Marc Young feels that many people missed the significance of the 220. The best proof to show that you can hold and match colour from machine to machine is using one engine to print the front of a sheet and another for the back, says Young.
For Xerox customers, some of the best news about the inline spectrophotometer is that it can be retrofitted to existing machines in the field. O’Donnell says that the option, which costs £16,000 for an iGen3, has proved popular with some customers. It has also been extended to the DocuColor 7/8000 series too, as part of the Advanced Color Quality Suite (ACQS), which is available on machines using Xerox’s FreeFlow PrintServer 7.0 front-end as a £12,170 option.
Other benefits from onboard spectrophotometry include making it much easier to match colour: both spot colours such as Pantones and offset work.
O’Donnell is also confident that the press will be able to hit the right flavours of ISO 12647 to meet UK requirements.
US standard
Because Xerox is a US company, we’ve gone for the Gracol specification, rather than the European Fogra specification, he says. We’re working on a European statement at the moment.As well as comparing digital print quality against that of offset, it has been common to compare economics and, in particular, the break point between offset and digital production. Although Xerox says the increased uptime improves the iGen4’s competitiveness, O’Donnell believes it’s not something that can be condensed down to a single number.
I’m wary when people quote numbers for the transfer point between offset and digital, he says. It depends so much on a firm’s pre-press and press set up, it could be as high as 5,000 sheets, or for someone with the latest Heidelberg Anicolor it could be in the 100s. It’s like quoting MPG in a car – ultimately that depends how heavy your right foot is. The question should never be about a breakeven point anyway, it should be about how much money you can make.
While colour and quality control are new to the iGen4, there are other parts of the product that it shares with the iGen3 that are noteworthy, including the maximum sheet size. The optional 364x571mm sheet, which is longer than the standard 364x521mm, is the biggest of any cut-sheet toner machine available today.
Quite a lot of people have been taking the bigger sheet size option, says O’Donnell. For anything that’s imposed, such as greetings cards and business cards, the bigger size means you can get more items on a sheet. For some applications, that couple of inches can work out at a 50% competitive advantage.
The larger size adds £20,000 to the machine and is available from new or as an upgrade in the field. The firm has also recently introduced a new high-capacity stacker for the larger sheets.The feed and delivery options include up to six feed trays and up to 10 stackers. There is the option for a roll feeder, which can offer a 10-15% reduction in paper costs.
As with all Xerox digital presses, the iGen4 has the option of the firm’s own Freeflow Workflow and Creo and EFI Fiery front-ends, although the EFI Fiery won’t be available for the iGen4 until next year.
Xerox claims the iGen4 has strong environmental credentials. Not only is the digital process devoid of solvents or VOCs, more than 97% of the components are recyclable or remanufacturable. By weight, 80% of the waste can be returned, re-used or recycled, according to the firm.
Feedback from early users of the iGen4 and from iGen3 customers who’ve seen the machine suggests that Xerox’s rivals are wrong and the iGen4 offers significant benefits. Another feather in Xerox’s cap is ensuring existing users can benefit from some of the developments without needing to invest in a totally new machine.
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SPECIFICATIONS
Max speed 110 A4ppm
Max sheet size 364x521mm (364x571mm sheet optional)
Average monthly page volumes 3.5m
Price £380,000 including the engine and workflow
Contact Xerox 0870 873 4519
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THE ALTERNATIVES
HP Indigo 7000
HP claims that the Indigo range has always had on-board closed-loop density controls, which has ensured the machines offered high quality and consistency. The 7000’s Drupa launch provided the Indigo range with a much more productive flagship machine – its 120A4ppm headline speed is 76% faster than the 5500. In addition to higher-speed printing, HP has separated the RIP from the press, to enable scalable workflows capable of handling huge volumes of variable data. The SmartStream Production Pro IN100 front-end, for example, can handle photobook applications with different images on each page at the press’s rated speed.
Max speed 120 A4 pages per minute
Average monthly page volumes 3.5m
Price £392,000 for engine HP SmartStream Production Pro IN100 front-end £49,000
Contact HP 08452 704000
Kodak Nexpress S3000
Kodak pitches the 100ppm Nexpress S3000 against the iGen4, although it also launched a faster 120ppm machine, the S3600, at Drupa. The Nexpress has an optional fifth unit, which can be used for special colours and coating, including high-gloss flood coating and special textured varnish effects. Kodak offers a range of three front-ends for the machine the V, Vcs and Vp.
Max speed 100 A4 pages per minute
Average monthly page volumes 2.2m
Price £299,000
Contact Kodak UK 020 8424 6514
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