We Review the Xerox Baltoro Inkjet Press
INKJET vs. OFFSET?
Offset printing is the dominant technology for the bulk printing of identical documents, while inkjet press technology is used where any degree of personalisation is required. Offset, also referred to as ‘litho’ uses printing plates and is perfect for magazines, but transactional data, such as bank statements, requires a digital interface coupled with an inkjet printer capable of producing the huge volumes cost effectively.
Advantages of inkjet over offset / litho
It’s time to take a second look at inkjet, because when you’re willing to question everything, you can solve anything! And so it is with inkjet, which has unique capabilities: it’s cost-optimised for high volume variable print, and it delivers without the time consuming and costly set-ups of offset press. After all, you want the agility to lift margins out of the commodity zone and drive value. Right?
Transactional print advantage
Inkjet is perfect for transactional work (mono, or with colour embellishments), or for short-turn high-volume jobs, and it really sings when you sell print as ‘beyond a commodity’: direct mail can become seriously profitable, and the possibilities are infinite!
Inkjet is affordable
Adding inkjet capability to your in-house print room or commercial print operation is now also affordable because the Xerox Baltoro replaces up to twenty Xerographic machines, and the competition just isn’t even close.
Baltoro: because you know £3.00 per 1,000 makes sense!
We’re convinced that reducing your costs from £30 /1,000 to £3 makes financial sense. This is the Baltoro equation, where value, velocity and volume all meet in one production press.
For high volume transactional work where personalisation is an essential part of the equation, you’re faced with a stark choice: print colour with litho and overprint with mono, or complete the job in a single pass, in-house. With 90% of your profit on the line, it’s time to think hard!
Multiple options to help you compete
Our production print specialists are on-hand to guide you through the opportunities, and they’ll help you with the alternatives too. Perhaps it’s a roll feeder you require, or you’ll need to add a second high-capacity ‘unload while run’ stacker? The possibilities even include the new inline Tecnau Dynamic Perforator, or Bourg BB3202 Inline Perfect Binder for new, higher-value applications and enhanced flexibility. We’ve got the answers.
The Inkjet Revolution
It’s another print revolution, as the global use of inkjet doubles from 350 to 700 billion pages in just five years. Inkjet is cost and quality optimised, and while it’s still limited by media compared to offset, the gap is narrowing.
Volume is key
Where the monthly volume of transactional work falls within .5 to 3 million impressions, and you recognise the advantages of being able to use coated or uncoated media, with a vastly simplified supply chain, then the positives stack up very well for inkjet.
Blend personalisation with static content
Of course, the economics of investing in a Baltoro can be made even more appealing for litho shops, because you can also blend personalisation with static content.
Baltoro economy
Speed remains a factor, as does energy usage, and that’s why the low-water inks bring 35-50% reductions in drying time on a press which is already using up to 65% less energy in its run mode. The case just got stronger!
Reading Time: 6 minutes
Offset or inkjet?
Offset vs. Inkjet … it’s no joke! We don’t think you’ll be able to tell the difference. With the ‘Colour Accelerator’ module coupled with superior artificial intelligence, the Xerox Baltoro heavy production press is going to test your expertise in print.
The Xerox investment
Xerox has invested heavily in innovating their ink set so the current high fusion inks lay really well on top of coated stocks providing a quality which is virtually indistinguishable from offset printing unless you have a loupe.
As Xerox’s Worldwide Product Manager, Deana Conyard says, “It’s interesting because when printers start to evaluate print, they over-analyse it. They start to pull out their loupe, they smell it, they scratch it, they crumple it …” She’s right, and let’s remember also that the general public can’t tell the difference, but they do react to personalised communications!
Print Personalisation
We talk a lot about print personalisation and hyper-personalisation because marketing is changing fast: it’s no longer about spraying paper communications everywhere but engaging in a multi-channel fashion to trigger a measurable engagement, whether that’s booking an appointment or demonstrating a buying decision by clicking through to a website.
Combine with XMPie software
When you pair personalisation with the unmatched image quality from high fusion ink, you enable people to connect with the printed word on an emotional level. Now combine that with XMPie software and you take communications to a whole new level of relevance … and that’s something that offset can’t do!
The solution is inkjet
It’s time to ask the question: if printers can’t tell the difference between offset and inkjet, what makes the print stand out if not the personalisation factor: seeing their name – or relevant imagery – embedded. The solution is inkjet, and Advanced UK is ready to show you ‘hands on’!
From traditional ‘spray and pray’ marketing to linking data and actions so your clients can deliver relevant and timely communications, now is the time to add value and drive client retention.
Personalisation potential
With the Xerox Baltoro inkjet, you gain 100% personalisation potential across an entire page instead of being confined to a narrow strip with a digital head on offset. You also gain an improved time-to-print, which is a big driver behind the move to inkjet, helping to shorten lead times and to make implementing last-minute changes easier. It’s these high inkjet speeds which bring the flexibility you need when trying to meet ever shorter job turnaround times.
Add digital channels
By supplementing inkjet print with other digital channels, you let consumers interact with brands on their own terms – boosting traffic, improving the consumer experience, and ultimately driving more revenue.
The Xerox inkjet press range
Why should you care? Because 88% of marketers report seeing measurable improvements with personalisation, and 81% plan to increase their use of this technology because they can see it works. When you add the Xerox range of inkjet presses, which includes the Baltoro, Rialto and Trivor, you can optimise your print operation to suit you and your clients.
Boost productivity with FreeFlow Core
If you then boost your productivity with Xerox® FreeFlow® Core workflow, you’re able to remove the manual pre-press steps too, further reducing your costs and turnaround times. Now you can automate your print processes and free your staff to do more with less.
Production speed
In developing the Baltoro HF inkjet press, Xerox began with an all-new print engine with a staggering 300ipm output.
Extensible media support
Combined with low-cost, high-performance, extensible media support without the need for priming, you gain increased application versatility and higher image quality than ever before.
Unique print heads
The Baltoro print heads are unique, and they’re designed to deliver peak accuracy at high frequency. With Signature IQ, the 100% Xerox-developed and manufactured High Fusion W-Series Print Heads ensure you produce true high-definition 1200 x 1200 dpi resolution.
Widest print area in its class
Overall the Baltoro is 115% more productive than the competition with a 13.76”/350 mm print area — the widest in its class.
Powerful Artificial Intelligence engine
Xerox® Automated Intelligence and Advanced Image Controls (AI) deliver signature IQ in real time. By making automatic adjustments based on substrate type, they help you achieve the ideal fusion of media and ink for results which can’t be differentiated from litho by the naked eye alone.
Media versatility
Run commonly available coated and inkjet stocks as well as low-cost uncoated media without primers, pre-treatments or coatings.
Up to 8 Pick Points
Connect up to four Sheet Feed Modules to the press and liberate true cut-sheet productivity. Each two-tray module holds 2,500 sheets of 90 gsm stock per tray.
More finishing options
Add a second high-capacity unload while run stacker, the new inline Tecnau Dynamic Perforator, or Bourg BB3202 Inline Perfect Binder for new, higher-value applications and enhanced flexibility.
Our Xerox Baltoro Verdict
Offset-like quality
The quality of offset printing is now within your grasp. The powerhouse performance of High Fusion Print Engines and Ink allows you to run an extensive and expanding array of the coated media customers are asking for. Primer-free printing also means more sustainable printing and your substrate texture and sheen get to shine.
Combined with the Xerox High Fusion Ink and their W-series Print Heads, you gain a range of benefits including incredibly fine line detail and edges, and amazingly smooth sweeps and gradients, perfect registration, sharp white knock-out, intense blacks and a wide gamut of vibrant colours.
Inkjet is going to be huge!
For inkjet to be a winner in your print operation, it’s a fact that you need some volume, but now it’s achievable and in our experience it’s best to back your investment by choosing the most serious long term investor in the digital print industry. Xerox.
The Xerox Baltoro HF inkjet press is a remarkable print platform, and with its optional roll-feed features it’s head and shoulders above the competitive offering from Canon. We’ve awarded the Baltoro five stars.
How Do I Find Out More?
Call the Advanced UK sales team on 01895 811811 to configure your solution.
Humperdinck Jackman – Marketing Director
Humperdinck has a 30-year career spanning Document Management Systems (DMS), data protection, Artificial Intelligence, Data Protection and Robotic Process Automation. With many articles published in print internationally, he believes the advances in office technology are such that we’re entering the 4th Industrial Revolution. Now Director of Marketing and Consulting Services at Advanced UK, he’s as active with clients as he is in endeavouring to write original blog articles.
