The Need for Speed and Why Xerox Wide Format

Written by Dustin Graupman
VP/GM Ink Jet Business Team, Xerox Corporation

 
Tom Cruise defines the need for speed in the movie Top Gun with conviction – from his motorcycle barreling down the streets of San Diego to his F-14A Tomcat flying at Mach speed in classified air space over the Indian Ocean. But we know the need for speed isn’t limited to naval aviators – our customers also consider speed a critical component of their business.
Enter the Xerox Wide Format IJP 2000 which completes jobs up to forty times faster than comparable wide format systems (up to 4,520 square feet/420 square meters per hour). That means high-quality, color signs can be printed in five seconds, 30-foot banners in one minute and production runs of 200 prints in less than 20 minutes.
In the past, speed bumps have kept printers from turning wide format jobs fast enough, sometimes sacrificing the floor’s production workflow to do so. Now more than ever, speed has proven to be a dominate factor in capturing wide format business. For example, more than 60 percent of jobs need to be fulfilled within two days.¹
Another speed enhancer is some very cool technology within the IJP 2000. Unlike conventional wide format technology in which the print heads move across the paper, we have five stationary print heads.  The paper moves under these print heads and is covered in ink in a single pass. Fewer moving parts mean better speed and less maintenance.
Extra speed gives wide format providers the ability to accept more jobs, turn them faster and capture repeat business. And for all the Mavericks out there in the graphic communications industry, that’s pretty exhilarating.
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¹ InfoTrends Wide Format Overview 2012