Press release from the issuing company

Cambridge – At FESPA Americas, booth 1739, Xaar, the world's leading independent supplier of industrial inkjet printheads and FESPA Global Technology Partner, brings with it a long list of activities, achievements, and recent corporate announcements in support of the large format digital inkjet industry.

Xaar delivers digital inkjet printhead technical training during FESPA Americas
Training sessions, scheduled in Room N310D on February 25, will help technicians understand how to get the best performance from digital inkjet printers built with Xaar printheads.

As machines with Xaar printheads proliferate worldwide, Xaar believes it is important to support its OEMs and help educate technicians about how to get the best performance from their printheads. To that end, Xaar Americas will be offering a free seminar particularly targeted at Latin American printer operators, offering a number of suggestions for the care and maintenance of inkjet printers. Topics will include an overview of printhead technology, a review of how each Xaar printhead works, the proper maintenance procedures and the importance of using only approved inks.

Xaar Proton demand grows

Xaar's latest printhead, the Xaar Proton, is finding growing success within wide format digital printers. The Xaar Proton is a wide-swathe 53.7mm (2.11"), high-resolution binary printhead designed for high-volume indoor and outdoor graphics. Featuring the latest piezo and nozzle-processing technology, the Proton delivers excellent and consistent print performance. Xaar's strategy is to continually innovate and develop its printheads to provide companies the flexibility of choice - as evidenced by the 60-picolitre drop size version of the Proton, which last year quickly followed the successful launch of the 35-picolitre version.

Xaar's newer printheads, including the Proton, contain actuators that are made of two pieces of piezoelectric material fused back to back - called 'chevron', the shape the material forms when actuated or fired. This results in better drop formation uniformity, greater efficiency and print quality, and hence excellent performance for indoor and outdoor graphics.

The design and flexibility of the Proton, and its compatibility with a wide range of solvent, oil and UV inks, enables Xaar's partners to bring quickly to market competitive printers that combine the highest levels of quality and speed with maximum cost-effectiveness and low cost of ownership.

Seven leading OEMs adopt the Proton

Seven leading wide format printer manufacturers have recently chosen Xaar Proton inkjet printheads to deliver high-performance wide format display graphics to customers globally. Many of them have decided to implement both the 35- and 60-picolitre versions of the Proton printheads within their digital inkjet printers so that their customers can choose the right speed and drop size combination for their applications.

Xaar has recently opened a new, quality laboratory in China and strengthened its customer service and diagnostic team in line with providing further training and education, as in the Americas.  The appointment of a new manager and engineers will provide fast local response and first-line training to support its many valued OEM partners.

Xaar extends manufacturing capacity

Xaar is expanding its Huntingdon factory, more than doubling staff at that location.  Through the expansion, annual production capacity of Xaar's printheads, including the Xaar Proton and Xaar 1001, will increase substantially, thanks to investments of $35m in new cleanrooms and capital equipment. Printhead manufacture is a highly precise process and Xaar's state-of-the-art printhead manufacturing lines in Europe are among the most innovative in the world today.

"Xaar has much to offer OEMs – both the printheads and service to develop competitive digital inkjet printers. We have a comprehensive range of both binary and grayscale printheads for a variety of wide format applications, and a support team that ensures R&D and technicians understand best practices," comments Chris Lynn, Xaar Americas VP, sales and marketing. "A number of our OEMs are attending FESPA Americas showing Xaar-enabled printers. For example, The INX Digital CP100, which can be seen on Booth 1323, is a good example of a printer that uses five Xaar 1001 printheads. It designed for short-run cylindrical printing and packaging work on bottles and cans.  At FESPA Americas (booth 1323), the CP100 will produce brilliantly colored water bottles in minutes."

"Xaar had a highly successful 2010, and with our recent activities, all forecasts point to an even better 2011," adds Lynn. "Our grayscale technology is now widely used for high-quality printing with UV-curable inks, and the productivity and drop consistency of the Proton will support continued progress with solvent inks. Expect to see more wide-format digital inkjet printers with Xaar printheads inside."

Xaar invests over 10% of its turnover in R&D to continually innovate its inkjet technology and bring new printheads to market. The company manufactures a full range of binary and grayscale inkjet printheads to enable printer manufacturers to choose the best one to suit their specific application and achieve high productivity, great quality and outstanding print performance.