Edging towards the second digital revolution

The commercialization of Benny Landa’s new digital printing process, nanography, is edging closer, but won’t happen until the highest print quality is achieved. David Pittman reports

When Landa Nanographic Printing presses were unveiled at Drupa 2012, they were greeted with a mixture of excitement and intrigue, as well as some cynicism from those wary of the lack of print samples, long launch schedule and claims that rainwater could be used to dilute the proprietary NanoInk.

For those caught up in the razzmatazz of the launch, myself included as a first-time visitor to Drupa and a relative newcomer to the print industry at the time, the space-age looking presses with their giant touchscreen interface (pictured, below) that slide up to unveil the inner workings, and the idea of collapsible ink barrels that could be easily transported around the world with consumables that could diluted on-site using water from the tap was quite eye-catching. And that’s not to mention the sold-out auditorium built within Landa’s own stand at Drupa, itself known as the Olympics of the printing industry.

Kept under wraps until as close to possible to the official launch, when nanography did debut it made quite an impression. Press coverage at the time and in the aftermath gives an indication of this, with the UK’s Guardian newspaper describing it as part of a ‘printing revolution that could be as significant as Gutenberg’, while Israel’s Haaretz used ‘prophet of print’ to describe Benny Landa in its headline.

In its coverage, Australia’s Print21 used the headline “Landa hijacks the show with launch of nanography”, and went on to report: ‘In true messianic style [Benny Landa] unveiled six prototype Nanographic Printing presses…[that] introduce a new style to the printing process, an iPad-type control “wall” with touchscreen capabilities and distinctive ergonomic press design.’

The media excitement was met by similar interest from printers themselves, with hundreds signing letters of intent during and after Drupa 2012, as well as offering financial deposits in order to be at the ‘bleeding edge’, as one early adopter described the Landa Nanographic Printing process shortly after Drupa 2012.

Ongoing development

Since Drupa 2012, Landa has been working hard to refine the process and bring it to market. After allowing the dust to settle following the “big bang” of the launch, it has visited 120 potential customers in 10 countries around the world to gather their feedback on what they had seen and knew of nanography in order to make sure the presses deliver what the market needs when launched.

‘What we found is that they were concerned about the amount of distance operators would have to cover when running the press,’ says Benny Landa, the founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Landa. ‘This wasn’t something I’d anticipated, but was something we have looked to address.’

Concerns were also raised about the ease of access to the internal workings of the presses as they had a low profile, and the impact this could have on press maintenance. 

As a result, Landa has now updated the configuration of its presses, starting with the S10 which will be the first to launch (pictured, above). A new operator cockpit has been integrated into the design as a dedicated production management center located at the delivery end, and is intended to make it easier for operators to monitor and control the press. The touchscreen interface is included in this area, featuring press controls, live video feeds from inside the press and press performance indicators, as is a lit inspection table and an area for press operators to display personal items.

Other improvements to the technology and architecture of the S10 include optional in-line coating for the folding carton variant of the S10, an automatic paper handling system that supports both paper and plastic substrates, and new ink ejectors with a resolution of 1,200dpi.

Print quality

Print quality is the cornerstone upon which Benny Landa is building the Landa Nanographic Printing process.

‘Quality is a fundamental concern of any printer, and they are looking for offset or nothing,’ Benny Landa says. ‘At Drupa we were only producing at around 25 percent of offset quality. Since then this has improved, with the quality reaching around 35 percent at the time of Graph Expo last year and 65-70 percent by China Print. At PRINT 13 in Chicago we were running at 80-85 percent.’

The goal of offset quality will be achieved by the time of the next Drupa, in 2016, and in line with Landa’s own technology S curve, which offers a guide to track the development of the technology.

‘At each step along the process we are able to peel away issues related to the technology and improve the quality, which will allow us to achieve offset quality. This will happen before the first presses ship, which will likely take place in Q4, 2014. We will not ship before we have reached offset quality however.’

The first Landa presses to ship will be targeted at the folding carton market. The S10 is from its portfolio of three sheet-fed models, and is a B1-size press. It is this that makes the folding carton variant of the S10 an ideal choice to be the launch model.

‘There is tremendous pent up demand in the folding carton market for a digital printing option that suits its needs,’ says Landa. ‘There is currently no digital press available offering B1 format printing, so we want to tap into this demand.

‘Digital penetration is low in the package printing market, but it has huge potential for growth. It is a rapidly growing market, growing at a faster rate than GDP in China as an example, and customization, short runs and SKU diversification are helping the market explode. But there is no viable digital option for the wider format folding carton market.’

Taking digital mainstream

It is this potential for growth that is helping Landa propose nanography as a mainstream printing process. Current digital options are primarily used for short runs, while offset becomes the dominant technology in longer runs, upwards of 10,000. Landa presses bridge the gap between the two.

‘Cost per page is the main block to the uptake of digital as a mainstream printing process. We want to change this by offering the best cost per page of any digital process.

‘The proprietary NanoInk is a big contributor towards the low cost per page we can achieve, as is the ability to print on any substrate without special pre-treatment. Couple this with speed, a wide format and the evolving print quality, and digital becomes a compelling story for nanography to become the first mainstream digital printing process.’

Nanography is also benefitting from investment in other digital processes, such as inkjet, whereby new components are being developed that allow higher print quality to be achieved at faster speeds, while also increasing lifecycles and making maintenance easier.

Landa itself is not tied to one component supplier or another when it comes to printheads, so says Benny Landa, although will likely have a preferred supplier for its presses.

‘Any printhead can be used for nanography, so we’re not tied to one supplier or another. Rather, we’re able to capitalize and benefit from investments being made into this area, and the wider inkjet process.’

Launch schedule

Benny Landa is quite adamant that the first Nanographic Printing presses will not ship until they attain the desired print quality. ‘I’ve made that mistake before, and I don’t plan to make it again. That is why we have pushed back the launch schedule for the latter stages of 2013 until the fourth quarter of 2014, when the first S10FC models will be shipped to early adopters. The S10C for the commercial print and publishing markets will follow in the first half of 2015.

‘The presses are being launched in relation to demand, and due to the demand we have seen from the packaging market, it makes sense to launch the S10FC first. Around 40 percent of those who signed letters of intent are from the package printing market, so there is a lot of demand.’

He notes that it will take time to fulfill the orders already in place for Landa Nanographic Printing presses, and it is not actively seeking new business at the moment or planning to mass produce presses.

‘The orders that were picked up at the time of launch are more than enough for us at the time being. These will take time to fulfill, but once the early adopters have their presses and they start generating interest in the market, we’ll look to ramp up production. We’re building new facilities at the moment to cater for this anticipated growth.’

‘We’re focused on print quality and the experience of customers, so we want to get it right. The potential for digital to go mainstream is huge, and over time penetration will grow as the cost per page declines, and quality, speed and other variables increase,’ Landa concludes.

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