Zalsman targets leap in productivity with investment in RICOH Pro™ VC80000

Dutch inkjet pioneer continues its digital production evolution with new Ricoh high speed press

London, July 2, 2024 – The Dutch inkjet pioneer, Zalsman, decisively purchased the RICOH Pro VC80000 high speed inkjet press directly from Ricoh’s drupa stand after being thoroughly impressed by the system’s higher uptime, productivity, lower energy consumption, and high level of automation. This decision underscores Zalsman's confidence in Ricoh’s high speed inkjet technology as well as its commitment to innovation and excellence in the printing industry.

Originally an offset printing company, Zalsman has undergone a major transformation in the past ten years with turnover from digital printing now exceeding that of offset. This is thanks to a combination of two RICOH Pro™ VC70000 inkjet production lines and four RICOH Pro™ C9500 toner-based printing systems. The latter were installed late last year.  They are enabling Zalsman to deftly respond to changing market demands and the rapid growth of on demand digital printing. 

Among the reasons Zalsman chose the robustly built press is its compact size, creating an optimised integrated platform. The press uses Ricoh's new water-cooled inkjet heads, and newly formulated inks which are highly pigmented, reducing ink consumption. The special drying system ensures fast drying while using less energy per print. And paper consumption can be reduced, as the system begins printing right from the start. Also, thanks to, the press speed of 150 metres per minute is now 50 percent faster than the Pro VC70000 when printing at 1200 dpi quality. 

The Ricoh Pro VC80000 is also a 'smart machine'. Thanks to the Machine Learning capabilities there is a high degree of automation. This results in hardly any operator intervention and significantly improved machine uptime.

All these enhancements and further developments that the Pro VC80000 offers is an example of what Ricoh calls 'Co-innovation'. They have been implemented following feedback from companies like Zalsman and other members of Ricoh's global Customer Council. 

"Actually, it's a no brainer: with this press, Ricoh offers us exactly what we need, namely capacity and efficiency," says Herman Verlind, managing director of Zalsman. “In recent years, we have built an edge in the market, and we want to keep it. That's why have chosen Ricoh again. We expect the Pro VC80000 to help us take a leap in productivity. It is the sum of its innovations that gives us the confidence to invest in this new platform now. We can't wait for the machine to be installed at our premises right after drupa."

Sander Sondaal, Director, Commercial Print Sales, Graphic Communications Group, Ricoh Europe, says: “Collaborating with Zalsman in its digital evolution has been a great privilege. We are delighted that our groundbreaking, next generation, high speed inkjet press, has been identified as the most effective technology to take the business successfully forward.“