There is a new wave of web inkjet press consumption in India. These machines can be called the third generation of Indian inkjet presses. The first generation of inkjet presses were represented by Kodak CIJ print heads, although these were not many: more than 20 years ago, there were only one or two full-fledged web presses.
The second generation of equipment consisted of several presses, mostly for transactional printing. The largest investment was a high-volume HP press installed by Repro Offset at its facility in the Delhi National Capital Region (NCR). In fact, this generation of digital inkjet equipment proved too expensive for Indian printers. They waited for cheaper solutions and further development of the market.
This brings us to the third generation of presses, which is not so much about changes or new technologies, but about a change in approach to local needs and a rich selection of inkjet presses from Asia (India, Japan and China). The first model of the third generation of inkjet presses was developed by Monotech India, which has been developing web-fed inkjet presses with perfecting function for wide-format printing of signs, roll labels and books for the last ten years. The company presented its label presses at Labelexpo Brussels 2023 and exported several machines to Europe and China.
At drupa 24, Chinese exhibitors outnumbered all other countries, but their activities received scant media coverage. Of the 400 Chinese exhibitors, there were reportedly only 11 manufacturers of web-fed inkjet equipment, which is mainly used in the document, label and packaging printing sectors.
Six of these companies – Arojet, Atexco, Flora, Hanway-Hanglobal, Hanglory, KingT and Shield – produce roll-fed inkjet printing presses for document and book printing. Most of these machines use a variety of inkjet print heads from brands such as Epson, Kyocera, FujiDimatix and Memjet, and have a resolution of up to 1200 x 1200 dpi, although resolution affects print speed.
However, Chinese manufacturers Founder and Spande, which have been active in the Indian market in recent times, were not present at drupa 24. Miyakoshi, a Japanese manufacturer that has had great success in the Indian market, was also absent. Monotech India, a pioneer in this field that continues to dominate the local market, also did not have a stand in Düsseldorf. However, other Japanese digital press manufacturers, which produce drum toner presses and sheetfed inkjet presses for the Indian market, were present at drupa and are seriously considering this market segment.
Apart from digital label printing presses, local manufacturer Monotech has installed seven digital printing presses, including four monochrome and three four-colour, in book plants in the last few years (as of March 31, 2024). “Monotech has installed two digital book presses since April, has ordered eight more, and expects to install 15 digital book presses in the local market by March 2025,” said Tejinder Singh, head of the company’s KnowzzleJet business unit.
In addition, we estimate that around 15 new web-fed inkjet presses will be imported from Japan and China this financial year, bringing the total installed base to 30. Japanese company Miyakoshi, which is sold and serviced by Provin Technos, is confident of doubling its two web-fed digital inkjet presses in the coming months. Leading the way in China so far is Atexco, which took advantage of its presence at drupa 24, and whose dealer Insight installed several presses last year.
Founder Group, which claims to have the largest installed base of digital printing presses in China, is currently installing and setting up one machine, which is a good start. Its distributor, TechNova, hopes to have six more machines installed by March 2025.
The third web-fed inkjet press we know of in the Chinese market is the Spande, sold by Provin Technos. Although it has not yet been installed, Vinay Kaushal, Managing Director of Provin, claims that the Spande’s superior color quality and richness, as well as its use of eco-friendly water-based inks, could be a breakthrough in the market. The Spande uses Epson i3200 (8) AiHD print heads and supports online maintenance, including nozzle servicing.
However, Kaushal strongly advises printers who are in a rush to buy a digital inkjet web press. “Printers need to do their research before buying a digital press,” he says. “They need to understand the specifics of the printing process and carefully calculate the ink consumption required to assess the running costs of the press.”
In addition to the costs of printhead maintenance and replacement, the costs of interface software and RIPS, as well as the operating costs of the web inkjet press, must also be considered.
We spoke to TP Jain, Managing Director of Monotech, and asked him if he was worried about the rapid influx of inkjet presses from China. He seemed confident that he would continue to dominate this growing market. He explained, “Monotech’s monochrome presses use 8.5-inch Memjet Duralink inkjet heads, while the colour presses use 13-inch Memjet Duraflex inkjet heads. Our 1600 x 1600 resolution presses are of the highest quality and have a good reputation in the market with repeat orders from customers.”
Speaking about ink costs, he said: “Our high resolution is achieved thanks to the Memjet printhead’s 2.1 picoliter droplet size, which provides excellent ink flow and a significant increase in pages per liter. Despite the increasing competition in the market, our decades of experience in various inkjet applications should enable us to take advantage of the growing interest in this technology in book production.”
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Post time: Jul-11-2025