Xitron makes K2 market intelligence available to print companies

Print Solutions

Xitron has announced the availability of K2 Market Intelligence, a free 32 page report for print companies evaluating B2+ production digital presses.

The Foundation Edition examines inkjet, liquid electrophotography (LEP), dry toner, and nanographic printing technologies, along with current and announced press platforms from Canon, HP, Konica Minolta, Landa, and Ricoh.

Rather than ranking manufacturers or recommending a particular technology, K2 Market Intelligence provides a common framework for comparing available options. It also addresses workflow, interoperability, operator training, total cost of ownership, and how a new press fits into an existing production environment.

‘Printers considering a major digital press investment are going to look closely at speed, quality, format, substrates, and operating costs,’ said Alan Darling, K2 evangelist at Xitron. ‘But the press doesn't operate by itself. It becomes part of a production operation that may already include offset presses, other digital devices, finishing equipment, MIS systems, and multiple DFEs.’

‘Questions Worth Asking’ sections throughout the report provide practical considerations for evaluating equipment, workflow, training, integration, and future production requirements.

The report also examines the workflow complexity that can develop as printers add digital presses from different manufacturers, each with its own digital front end, software, and operating procedures.

‘Buying another press shouldn't automatically mean buying another way of working,’ Alan said. ‘There may be good reasons to choose different press manufacturers for different applications. But if every new press brings another workflow with it, operators have more software to learn, more procedures to remember, and more places for production problems to occur.’

K2 Market Intelligence reflects the vendor independent philosophy behind Xitron's K2 workflow family, which provides a common production environment across offset, digital, and mixed vendor operations.

The Foundation Edition of K2 Market Intelligence is available free of charge

through the website at www.xitron.com