Xaar’s CEO, Doug Edwards, confirmed at the Xaar India press conference on 19th September that the company is strengthening its business in India with its wide portfolio of inkjet printheads and new technology for a variety of print applications. Edwards also outlined the importance of the Indian market to the company’s global goal to reach annual sales of £220m by 2020.
Speaking at a press conference at the Hotel Trident, Gurgaon, Edwards gave an update on each of the four strategic pillars to Xaar’s 2020 goal. “Our focus for the last two years has been to broaden our horizons into a wider range of print applications, all of which are of significant interest to our customers and partners in India. I am delighted to say that results from the first half of this year show that we are making good progress.”
“Product revenues outside of Ceramics are growing by 60%; global sales into the Graphics sector grew by 33%, and we have also made good progress in our Packaging and Product Printing markets, where global sales jumped by 54%. We expect the Packaging and Product Printing area of the business to be about a third larger than Ceramics by the end of this year. In addition, we have seen an increase in our Asian business, which now makes up 47% of the company’s overall sales.”
New High Laydown Technology for Indian Ceramics and Packaging markets
Edwards announced that Xaar’s High Laydown (HL) Technology, initially launched in the Ceramics market, is now available for packaging customers, enabling raised effects to be added to substrates, transforming standard labels and folding cartons into high value packaging for products that can command a premium.
In ceramics applications, High Laydown Technology allows effects such as gloss and adhesives to be applied with unprecedented laydown levels – for example, the Xaar 1003 C with HL Technology can achieve a laydown of up to 90 g/m2 at 35 m/min line speed. For labels and packaging, High Laydown Technology with UV varnish enables raised or tactile effects to be printed in single pass and with a single print bar – for example, the Xaar 1003 U with HL Technology can achieve a varnish film thickness of 80 microns at 25 m/min line speed. Competitor offerings typically require multiple print bars or much lower line speed to achieve the same result.
Extended product range includes aqueous printheads
In addition, the recent printhead launches from Xaar are starting to shift the company towards a broader reach. Of particular interest to the Indian market are the Xaar 1201 and Xaar 5501, both of which are capable of handling aqueous inks. This means that OEMs looking to produce textiles or graphics printers using water-based inks now have access to robust and reliable technologies.
Already making a significant impact in Asia, the Xaar 1201 is a Thin Film Piezo Silicon Micro Electrical Mechanical System (MEMS) technology printhead for printing Wide-format Graphics (WFG) and Textiles with dye sublimation, eco-solvent or aqueous inks. To complement the Xaar 1201, Xaar recently announced the Xaar 5501, which previewed in China a few months ago. This compact and lightweight printhead is the first product resulting from Xaar’s collaboration with Xerox, and delivers high print quality combined with low printing costs, whilst integration costs will also be kept to a minimum.
A global company with a local focus
For over 13 years, Xaar has been the only printhead manufacturer to have a direct and local presence in India, with its Indian regional office located in New Delhi. “We are very committed to supporting our customers and partners in India,” comments Doug Edwards. “Because we have a regional base in India, our customers and partners benefit from local technical expertise, a quick response and a printhead partner with a more in depth understanding of the Indian marketplace. Our focus is always on helping our customers get to market quickly with a range of products their own customers want and need. Having a local presence is the only way to serve our customers well.”