Agfa Secures Four Pinnacle Product Awards for Inkjet Innovations

Agfa has been honored with four prestigious Pinnacle Product Awards, presented by PRINTING United Alliance. Two of the winning products are dedicated to the advanced automation of high-volume print production processes on Agfa’s Jeti Tauro and Onset Grizzly printers. They will be shown for the first time at the upcoming PRINTING United Expo (Las Vegas, Sept. 10-12, 2024).

The Pinnacle Product Awards celebrate outstanding products that drive advancements in quality, capability, and productivity within the printing industry.

“Winning multiple awards once again reinforces Agfa’s position as a forerunner in digital printing technology,” said Arnaud Calleja, VP of digital printing solutions at Agfa. “Our inkjet solutions empower printing companies globally to broaden their print application scope, enhance efficiency, and reduce print production costs. We prioritize automation, versatility, and low ink consumption in our product development.”

About the winning Agfa products:

• Jeti Tauro H3300 UHS – With a throughput up to 9,741 ft²/h, outstanding print quality, support for a wide range of media types and sizes, and multiple automation options, the sturdy 3.3 m UV LED hybrid Tauro inkjet printer is a game-changer for high-volume display as well as packaging printing. Agfa continues to enhance its fastest multi-pass printer. Two recent upgrades were recognized with a Pinnacle Award:

•Jeti Tauro H3300 UHS 7 colors: taking print quality to the next level 
Recognized in the output category – UV/Latex hybrid (more than $500K) category
Agfa’s has taken the high-quality output of Jeti Tauro H3300 UHS LED to the next level with the addition of light magenta. The CMYKcmk configuration significantly enhances the smoothness of light (pink/red) solid colors and improves transitions in pastel gradient blends. It also allows for smoother prints for lighter cyan shades, which often contain minimal magenta.

•Jeti Tauro H3300 UHS with robots: advanced automation for maximum (cost)efficiency
Recognized in the non-output category – Automation equipment (print/post-print)
The addition of robotic automation on the Tauro, which will be shown for the first time at Printing United later this year, ensures maximum productivity and cost-efficiency, enabling print service providers to balance the challenges of rising costs.

•Onset Grizzly X HS – Just like the Tauro, the Grizzly got recognized for quality and productivity enhancements:
•Onset Grizzly X HS with autoloader: boosting productivity and cost-efficiency
Recognized in the non-output category – Material handling equipment
The Onset Grizzly true flatbed printer is designed for 24/7 printing for the display, POP and sign markets at speeds of up to 15,000 ft/h with a maximum size of 126 x 63 inch. It can be automated in multiple ways: either by using a laytable or autoloader combined with an unloading robot, or by using two robots, be it with or without a laytable. The new autoloader, coupled with an unloading robot, offers full automation, thus reducing labor costs.

• Onset 560 ink set (CMYK+W): boosting output quality and productivity while lowering the total cost of print manufacturing
Recognized in the non-output category – Digital inks – UV
The Onset 560 UV ink set boasts explosive color strength and a gamut surpassing the ISO-coated standard. In gloss mode, the printer’s extensive color range includes previously inaccessible colors for UV systems. Notably, it matches challenging colors like Pantone 485C on standard matte paper and enhances greens and blues.

The ink set also provides significant quality and productivity enhancements, including improved dot gain control, sharper drop edges, and improved image detail rendering. High-quality print modes enhance the smoothness of solid colors.

In addition, Agfa’s Onset 560 ink set offers a superior ROI, featuring ‘Thin Ink’ technology for ink savings up to 22%, along with a white ink system that boosts white-ink job productivity by 40% compared to non-Agfa inks.