UV Printer History and Future Prediction

Last time, we looked at how the UV Printer model has changed.

To put it simply, the UV Printer model has changed from “Conveyor Belt Type => Flatbed Only => Roller Only => Mercury to LED Conversion”.

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This time, I will explain, “How did the UV printer manufacturers that made that product flow?”

Aside from the UV Printer product line,

I. UV Printer History and Future Prediction _ Selecting a Chinese OEM Company

 

1. Vutek (USA) _ UV Printer History and Future Prediction

Vutek has been a strong player in conveyor belt type UV printers.
They produced large equipment directly and sold mid- to low-priced equipment as OEM through Flora.

In the meantime, Nazdar (American ink company) also became Flora’s US dealer and sold together in the US market.
Nazdar company played Teckwin (Chinese manufacturer) equipment for 5 years, but dropped it due to equipment problems and became Vutek’s dealer.

After a certain point, Vutek was acquired and merged by a large company called EFI.

 

The main models are high-speed conveyors and large LED roll-to-roll equipment, ink sales were high, and Flora, a Chinese OEM partner, was used during difficult times.

 

2. Fujifilm (Japan) _ UV Printer History and Future Prediction

They received OEM from Israel Nur and sold large-scale Roll to Roll UV Printers on the market,
but after a few years, we gave up on Nur products and started selling large-scale UV Roll to Roll UV Printers from JHF, a Chinese manufacturer.
JHF UV Roll to Roll 5m, 3m wide equipment is a good model that sold about 130 units in the Chinese market in just two years since its launch.

 

In the end, we chose to proceed with a Chinese OEM product.

 

3.Roland (Japan) _ UV Printer History and Future Prediction

They started as a Chinese OEM from small roll to roll models.

 

 

II. UV Printer History and Future Prediction _ A Company Acquired and Merged by HP and Canon

 

1. HP(Global) _ UV Printer History and Future Prediction

Colorspan, Nur, and Scitex were all strong UV printer manufacturers.

• Colorspan was a groundbreaking product with high cost-effectiveness at the time of its release,
• both Nur and Scitex were Israeli companies with tremendous technological prowess.

I don’t remember the exact year, but HP acquired the three companies almost at the same time when it entered the market.

In the market,

“It’s good news because it’s clear evidence that the UV printer market is expanding, but isn’t HP monopolizing it?” There were also concerns.

However, due to HP’s complex distribution structure, the price of the same product was high, and for HP CS employees who were familiar with copy machines, UV Printer CS was burdensome.

In 2020, UV printers are only nominally maintained, and they are focusing on latex equipment with the motto of being eco-friendly. However, in the label and package markets, which are dozens of times larger than the sign market, they are maintaining the world’s top position.

 

 

2. Canon (Global) _ UV Printer History and Future Prediction

OCE was the first UV flatbed model to be introduced in 2005, and was so unique that it maintained 50% of the sales of mid-range models until 2012. It was the first to use a 7pl head and grayscale.

After being acquired by Canon, no new models were released, and dealers left, saying that CS would be maintained like a regular copier.

 

III. UV Printer History and Future Prediction _ Independently without a Partner

 

1. Durst (Italy) _ UV Printer History and Future Prediction

Until 2010, you could see Durst UV Printers in the largest printing offices in any European country.

The equipment price was 2-3 times higher than that of similar equipment, but it was a model that sold steadily.

However, in 2015, as the quality and speed of Durst UV Printers became similar to those of competitors, UV Printer sales declined.

 

It was judged that Durst was losing market share in the market due to delays in technology development, but
as it turned out, Durst had planned to withdraw from the UV Printer market, which was overly competitive.
Instead, it was concentrating on Tile printers, various industrial inline inkjet equipment, and Label printers, which were still in the blue ocean and where the market was alive.

 

 

2. Mimaki (Japan) _ UV Printer History and Future Prediction

Mimaki’s UV history is also considerable.
In 2004, at SGIA (Atlanta, USA), a small model made with a Mercury lamp (the equipment is not as small as it is now) was exhibited,
and in 2010, the current UJF series was released with an LED lamp and a simple product like DESKTOP.
At the time, there were concerns about “what can be done at that speed?”, but contrary to expectations, it became synonymous with small models in less than 5 years after its release.

I heard from a Japanese acquaintance that Mimaki underwent restructuring in 2019, but judging from the fact that it is still going strong, it seems to be maintaining itself well.

 

 

IV. UV Printer History and Future Prediction _ Summary 

 

1. Companies that discontinued UV printers _ History of UV printers and future predictions

 

Companies Acquired by Global Conglomerates
Scitex, Colorspan, Nur, and OCE were all major players in UV Printers, but they were acquired by HP or Canon, and their UV Printer divisions were weakened, so they naturally disappeared from the market.

 

Companies that chose Korean manufacturers as OEM partners
AGFA maintained its UV printer business well until mid-2010 when Korean manufacturers were competitive, but
as Korean products became less competitive compared to Chinese manufacturers, sales of UV printers decreased, and now it is not in the UV printer business.

 

2. A company that continues to use UV printers _ The history of UV printers and future predictions

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Japanese company
Roland is doing both Chinese OEM and own product development production and still playing like before.

Mimaki is also maintaining its business through Chinese OEM and own product development, just like Roland.

 

Chinese company

It was initially a UV printer manufacturer that developed through US and European OEMs, but now, it has become a country that supplies 80% of the world’s UV printers through its own model development and sales.

3. Market view from a company that discontinued UV printers _ History of UV printers and future predictions

 

From a global company’s perspective, the UV Printer business was a very small market.

As you can see in the table below, the entire sign market is $36b (approximately 36 trillion won), packaging is $389b (approximately 390 trillion won), which is about 10%, and among the packaging, the label market alone is $31b (31 trillion won), which is similar to the size of the entire sign market.

Rather than saying that large companies such as HP and Canon, as well as EFI and Durst, were eliminated from the sign market, it seems more correct to say that they left the small sign market and moved to the label & packaging market.

 

4. UV Printer History and Future Prediction _ Conclusion 

 

The UV printers available in the sign market are only made in China and Japan.

In particular, since more than 80% of UV printers are made in China, if we think about the reality that Chinese manufacturers face and the strategies they have chosen to overcome that reality,

I think we can get an answer to our topic, “UV Printer History and Future Prediction.”

Next time, we will look at the current status of Chinese manufacturers and predict their current situation.

 

V. This is how Artjet supports our customers.

ARTJET UV Printer has been sold in Korea for 5 years, and we are organizing the printer problems we have encountered so far, their causes, and their solutions. 

 

1. Printhead Problems and Solutions Total 10

ARTJET UV Printer Problems and Solution_Printhead Problems Summary

Additional issue and solution
1. The red color does not appear at first, then appears during printing, and then does not appear again

 

2. Ink Supply Problems and Solutions Total 17

ARTJET UV Printer Problems and Solutions_Ink Supply Problems Summary

Comprehensive application
1. Damper replacement time
2. The nozzle test is fine, but it seems that a certain color is not coming out during printing
3. Capping station block positioning to match the print head and captop
4. Can I ignore the ink alarm and use it?

3. Mechanical problem and Solutions 

1. How to align the print head in a straight line
2. There is a clicking noise from the X-axis
3. Banding problem in specific section
4. The Importance of Head Height in Bidirectional Printing
5. Problems that occur when the wiper height is high
6. When the cleaning belt screw is loose
7. When the capping fixing plate does not fit
8. How do I prepare the ARTJET electricity?
9.When Anti-crash becomes a jam in captop
10. Print head Anti crash system 

4. Electron board and Software problem is hereunder. 

1. The printer works but printing does not work
2. Resetting to default settings
3. Touch panel does not turn on
4. The printer is printing, but nothing is printed
5. Software closes when I just press the print button
6. Printing in the wrong place
7. Positioning misalignment in X-axis direction
8. How to make the Offset fine tune
9. Vertical offset is not correct only for the right section of white

 

5. Sai Flexi Rip software  

1. Sai Flexi Rip _ How to make the Spot Color & several mistakes
2. Sai Flexi Rip _ Color is strange after applying Spot color
3. Sai Flexi Rip _ White is sticking out
4. Sai Flexi Rip _ Installation and Dongle Key Recognition Failure Measures
5. Sai Flexi Rip _ Dongle Key Recognition Failure
6. Sai Flexi Rip _ White lines appear when printing only color
7. Sai Flexi Rip _ Color Adjustment through Graph
8. Sai Flexi Rip _ Print size compensation
9. Sai Flexi Rip _ Ink Consumption Calculation
10. What is ICC profile & menu board UV Printing
11. Sai Flexi Rip _ Dongle Key recognition Failure from USB port

 

6. Problems and solutions from actual consumer sites

1. Paper that absorbs ink
2. White Motor Pump Does Not Turn
3. A line-like thing appears at the end of the white print surface
4.Can varnish banding be reduced? 

7. UV Printer Application 

we are explaining not only UV printer problems and solutions, but also what products are produced with UV printers.

1. Braille printing
2. Flip the material and align it
3. 2.5D UV print
4. ARTJET UV Printer Application 6 _아크릴 본딩 장비
5. I phone 14 print limitation 
6. Mask printing not recommend
7. Leather Cigarette Case UV Printing
8. Round soccer strategy board UV printing
9. Primer  performance & limitation 
10. UV Print & Laser crop mark cutting
11. Mobil case UV print profit
12. Screen vs Digital Comparison and UV Printing on Hand Sanitizer Cases
13. Bottle zig & print
14. Canvas UV Printing
15. Applying epoxy effect with varnish
16. Making a light frame with UV Printer & Laser cutter
17. UV Printer & Laser Cutting Equipment Button Name Tag Making
18. UV Printer & Laser Cutting Making a Cell Phone GripTok
19. Making an Acrylic Keychain with UV Printer & Laser Cutter
20. UV Print with Zig
21. How to make RD WORKS CCD camera cutting Video manual
22. Acrylic bonding equipment
23. All the steps to create UVDTF
24. UVDTF TEST Result on various material
25. ARTJET CW+C Print time & Ink Cost
26. Create a white shield with different images on the front and back of the keyring
27. Keyring Business Required Equipment and Investment Costs
29. Acrylic Lighting Goods
30. Ballpoint pen jig printing
31. Staining occurs when printing on coated leather

 

 

That’s it for today.