Graphic Paper

NORWALK, CT , Nov. 18, 2020 (Press Release) -Xerox announced a suite of production print innovations including new presses, technology enhancements for existing printers as well as artificial intelligence and automation features that aid speed and productivity.

At a virtual event attended by partners and clients around the world, Xerox unveiled the following innovations:

• A Color Accelerator module for Baltoro, expanding inkjet applications and adding ink-saving automation
• Addition of fluorescent pink to the Iridesse Production Press, enhancing its metallics, white and clear color palette
• Three new printers capable of higher volumes, more media and extended color options in the VersaLink and Versant family
• Two Xerox Nuvera print speed upgrades that best competition
• AI-enabled media manager software that enables high-quality images with minimal set-up and staff time
• Automated workflow updates to seamlessly print embellishments with FreeFlow Core 6.0

As the leader in the production color market, Xerox is committed to helping customers expand their business, enhance productivity with new technology and protect their existing investments with new tools and features.

Digital print enhancements increase profitability, delivering higher margins and allowing print customers to expand into new areas. According to Keypoint Intelligence, digital print enhancement is expected to generate $25 billion a year and can increase a printers’ profit by 50 to 400 percent. By making it easier, customizable and faster to produce these pages, Xerox technology provides multiple entry options for customers to expand their business and increase profit.

“Print enhancement is the fastest-growing segment in print and Xerox offers the broadest set of solutions to help clients expand their business here,” said Tracey Koziol, senior vice president of Global Offerings, Xerox. “The new technology and features we are launching expand the capabilities and profit potential of existing devices while introducing new presses that respond to demand for higher volume and extended media and color palettes. There’s a reason Xerox remains top in the production print market.”

Xerox Color Accelerator for Baltoro

The Xerox Baltoro™ High Fusion Inkjet Press platform, No. 1 in the B3 cut-sheet inkjet market, now has a field-upgradable module that expands its range. The Xerox Color Accelerator for Xerox Baltoro HF Inkjet Press enables increased print quality, expanded media options and automation to make inkjet printing viable for lucrative applications such as direct mail, postcards and catalogs. With intelligent automation, Baltoro uses 50% less ink than competitor presses to purge inkjet heads, increasing uptime and productivity while delivering consistent, reliable quality.

Introduced last year, Baltoro is redefining the inkjet market. At a fraction of the size, weight and power consumption of competitor presses, Baltoro offers a lower total cost of ownership (TCO) while being the only scalable, customizable platform in its class.

Fluorescent Pink for Iridesse

Xerox has the broadest color capability and Beyond CMYK offerings across any portfolio. No one offers the range of colors, embellishments, mixed metallics, extended gamut, media options and single-pass digital enhancement technology as Xerox.

The Xerox Iridesse Production Press is adding fluorescent pink specialty dry ink option to its existing Beyond CMYK palette of gold, silver, white and clear. These embellishments allow print providers to differentiate and offer their clients eye-popping designs and enhancements.

New VersaLink Graphic Arts Printer

The newest addition to our VersaLink family is the Xerox VersaLink C8000W, the most affordable entry point into the embellishment market. Using white toner as a base on dark and colored stocks, its cyan, magenta and yellow toners make images pop for applications such as menus, envelopes, window clings, decals and labels. A small footprint device, the C8000W offers clarity and quality that stands out over the typical four-color print.

Two New Versants

Xerox is expanding its Versant family of presses with two new machines that support wider media options and add automation features that reduce staffing needs and set-up time.

The Xerox Versant 280 Press, a mid-production press, provides added value with thicker stock media options (400 GSM) for applications such as business cards. With the All Stocks at Rated Speed (ASRS) option, the Versant 280 is faster than any competitor in printing heavy stocks. Customers can print a million specialty colors using an Adaptive CMYK+ kit that leverages white, gold, silver, clear and fluorescents, unique to Xerox in this class of products.

The Xerox Versant 4100 Press, handles higher volumes and heavier production loads than the Versant 280, bringing more jobs in-house by reducing set-up time and printing on more media types than any competitor press. The 4100 also handles thicker paper stocks, up to 400 GSM. Automated stock management saves time and reduces human error.

Faster Xerox Nuveras

The Xerox Nuvera family is built for high production environments with our customers making more than 35 billion prints last year. The Xerox Nuvera 157 MX Production System and  Xerox Nuvera MX Perfecting Production System monochrome production presses have upgraded the magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) print speeds to exceed any competitive press. MICR, the line of numbers that allows certain computers to read and process information, is key for processing bank, payroll and government checks with tested and trusted Xerox Nuvera security.

Technology-Driven Efficiencies

AI-enabled media manager software. PredictPrint Media Manager Software is included with the new Versant 4100 and can be added to Iridesse. By using artificial intelligence, the software automatically identifies the media being used and provides the correct press settings. Users simply scan a barcode, place the paper in a tray, and use the set-up wizard to walk through optimizing the system for that application.

FreeFlow Core 6.0 automates the process of preparing a file to print and now includes the application of Beyond CMYK enhancements. FreeFlow Core uses pre-built workflows to seamlessly apply embellishments such as gold, silver, white, clear and fluorescents without changing the source file.

“These new products and features represent the sweet spot of technology, where end-to-end solutions support our customers need to differentiate and expand their businesses in any economic environment,” said Marybeth Gilbert, vice president and general manager, Production Business, Xerox. “Our customers know they can count on Xerox innovation in response to their business needs.”

Availability:

• Xerox Color Accelerator for Xerox Baltoro HF Inkjet Press - Current Baltoro customers will be able to order Color Accelerator beginning in 2021. New Baltoro customers will be able to place orders for Color Accelerator starting December 15 with installs expected to begin in Q1 2021.
• The VersaLink C8000W is available immediately worldwide.
• The Xerox Nuvera 157 MX Production System and Xerox Nuvera 314 MX Perfecting Production System - order taking and availability December 1, 2020.
• The Xerox Versant 280 is available now based upon channel and geography.
• The Xerox Versant 4100 with PredictPrint Media Manager Software is available now based upon channel and geography.
• Iridesse pink specialty dry ink option and the PredictPrint Media Manager Software option are available for order taking December 1, 2020 and availability beginning March 1, 2021.
• The XLS Automatic Feeding Kit option for Iridesse is available immediately worldwide.

About Xerox

Xerox Holdings Corporation makes every day work better. We are a workplace technology company building and integrating software and hardware for enterprises large and small. As customers seek to manage information across digital and physical platforms, Xerox delivers a seamless, secure and sustainable experience. Whether inventing the copier, Ethernet, the laser printer or more, Xerox has long defined the modern work experience.

ZURICH, Switzerland, Nov. 16, 2020 (Press Release) -Rheinisch-Bergische Druckerei GmbH, which prints well-known newspaper Rheinische Post, will use ABB’s MPS Production systems and software to optimize printing processes and reduce costs and maintenance

Global technology company ABB has been awarded a contract to provide software system upgrades including its MPS Production and production data analysis system MPS Inform to Rheinisch-Bergische Druckerei GmbH.

Based in Dusseldorf, the company publishes daily, weekly and monthly newspapers, periodicals and magazines for customers in Germany. These include the Rheinische Post, Westdeutsche Zeitung, Rem­scheider Generalanzeiger and the Solinger Tageblatt. These are produced in a print run of around 600,000 copies along with 3.3 million advertising papers and magazines. The Rheinische Post has the largest circulation of all the daily newspapers in the Rhineland region with more than 268,800 copies reaching about 740,000 readers daily.

MPS Production is an ABB press management and optimization system, which enables operators to plan print products using specifications imported from an external system or created using an inbuilt graphical planner. The tooling package also maps out printing presses installed on site for complete end to end production optimization using currently available infrastructure.

Rheinisch-Bergische Druckerei GmbH will also achieve reductions in preparation time, start-up waste and ink and water use, bringing significant cost savings, through MPS Systems.

“We’re looking forward to benefitting from ABB’s decades of industry experience, systems knowledge and service, bolstered by learnings gained from a diverse range of production optimization applications globally, said Kirsten Klaszus, Managing Director at Rheinisch-Bergische Druckerei GmbH. “These latest upgrades will ensure that we are fit for the future of an industry that continues to work to tight financial margins.”

The ABB tools will assist operators and create virtualization of the system though conversion to run with PostgreSQL, allowing independence from the hardware and operating system lifecycle. This enables the application to be tested on and moved to a new platform when required, increasing availability and backup solutions.

“Our technologies have developed beyond recognition since we first worked with Rheinisch-Bergische Druckerei GmbH more than 35 years ago,” said Damian Staedeli, Head of Printing, ABB. “We are looking forward to seeing our customer realize the benefits of working with such a flexible system that provides oversight of the whole printing process and ease of operation.”

The software system upgrades will be delivered to Rheinisch-Bergische Druckerei GmbH and will replace obselete hardware operating systems in early 2021.

ABB is a leading global technology company that energizes the transformation of society and industry to achieve a more productive, sustainable future. By connecting software to its electrification, robotics, automation and motion portfolio, ABB pushes the boundaries of technology to drive performance to new levels. With a history of excellence stretching back more than 130 years, ABB’s success is driven by about 110,000 talented employees in over 100 countries.

OAKBROOK TERRACE, IL, Nov. 6, 2020 (Press Release) -ND Paper, a leading North American producer of pulp, paper, and paper-based packaging, is implementing a series of transformations at its Rumford Division to further expand into packaging grades.

In its current configuration, the fully integrated Rumford Division operates three paper production lines, kraft and mechanical pulping assets, and a pulp dryer; its product mix is heavily weighted toward bleached grades serving printing and writing (P&W) markets. With the COVID-19 pandemic battering economic activity across the world, demand for P&W papers has plummeted; coated woodfree and coated mechanical papers – primary Rumford grades – are expected to decline 23.5% and 30.3% year-over-year, respectively, equivalent to over 1.4 million tons of output.

To ensure a viable, profitable future for the Rumford Division, ND Paper will be transforming the mill to increase its product flexibility and shift further into packaging grades.  Notable changes include:

• Commissioning of an unbleached recycled pulp line to provide fiber flexibility to the R12 and R15 paper machines
• Conversion of its R15 paper machine from P&W papers into lightweight, high strength kraft linerboard products
• Expansion of R12 paper machine capability to include unbleached recycled bag and converting papers, in addition to its current offering of bleached and unbleached papers
• Continued operation of the R9 pulp dryer, including expansion into unbleached softwood kraft market pulp
• Permanent curtailment of mechanical pulping operations and R15 coating and supercalender assets

The newly rebuilt R10 paper machine will continue to deliver high-quality P&W and Specialty products for ND Paper’s base of existing customers. Oxford C1S, Orion, Vision, Escanaba, and Dependoweb grades currently produced on R15 will be transitioned to the R10 and Biron B26 assets, minimizing disruption to loyal customers. Additionally, the R12 machine, with both bleached and unbleached capability, will manufacture Rumford Offset, as well as recycled and kraft papers for multi-wall bags, retail bags, and converting applications.

“The onset of this unprecedented demand decline happened much more quickly than could possibly be anticipated,” commented Group Deputy Chairman & Chief Executive Officer Ken Liu. “However, while other mills have exited the market and closed their doors, ND Paper is repurposing the Rumford Division for a competitive future. Moving our largest Rumford machine into packaging grades helps to balance the deteriorating P&W market in North America, while simultaneously positioning us into bigger and more stable packaging paper markets. I would like to thank the mill and project team for their work over the past year leading to this transition.”

ND Paper expects this work to be completed by the end of 2020.

About ND Paper

ND Paper is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nine Dragons Paper (Holdings) Limited, the largest containerboard producer in Asia. We are an environmentally-friendly company that manufactures various types of high-quality pulp, paper and paper-based packaging materials. Our mills in Rumford, Maine and Biron, Wisconsin are integrated paper & pulp facilities, and our mill in Fairmont, West Virginia is one of only three in the world that produces air-dried, recycled pulp. Our fourth mill, in Old Town, Maine, produces unbleached softwood pulp. We are proud of our 1,400 dedicated employees, who together produce more than 1.2 million tons of pulp and paper annually. ND Paper is headquartered in Oakbrook Terrace, Ill.