MINNEAPOLIS, Oct. 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Delphax
Technologies Inc. (Pink Sheets:DLPX.PK), a pioneer in the
development of high-speed digital printing equipment, turns 30 this
year—and its pioneering days have just begun!
After three decades of building black-and-white digital presses
based on an innovation in high-speed imaging technology, the
company is tooling up to offer color presses based on another
first-in-the industry idea.
The company was launched in 1981 as Check Technology Corporation
with the aim of developing digital production technology
specifically to satisfy the demanding short run, variable-data
requirements of the check-printing industry. It met that
objective by devising a series of high-speed sheet-fed presses
based on a unique electron-beam imaging (EBI) technology developed
by a Canadian company known as Delphax Systems.
The first of the Check Technology systems—the
Checktronic—was introduced in 1984, and the company quickly
built a dominant position with check printers outside of
North America. Then in the
1990s, the company introduced a much faster system—the
Imaggia. The Imaggia was then, and still is,
the world's fastest digital sheet-fed print system with production
speed of up to 300 pages per minute. The Imaggia has won a
major share of the North American market.
While the versatility of the Imaggia began to take the
company beyond the check-printing market at the turn of the
century, a bigger step in that direction was to follow closely.
In 2001, Check Technology acquired the assets of Delphax
Systems, including the patented EBI technology. Signaling a
diversification beyond the check-printing market, Check Technology
changed its name to Delphax Technologies and moved quickly to
complete development and began marketing the CR
Series of digital roll-fed presses, also based on EBI
technology. The CR Series offers the fastest
toner-based digital printers in the world at 2,200 pages per
minute, with a range of print applications that includes books and
booklets, direct mail products, transactional materials, tickets,
packaging inserts and legal and financial documents.
Building on its core competencies in providing high speed
digital printing solutions to the financial, security, legal,
direct mail and transactional print markets, the company is
launching a new venture into the category of digital color
printing.
"It's where the growth is, and it's where we believe our digital
heritage will work to our advantage—both in the security printing
market and beyond," CEO Dieter
Schilling wrote to shareholders earlier this year.
"Digital color is a substantial segment of the printing
equipment market that has grown during the recession, and it is
projected to continue to gain steadily in share of revenues from
equipment, supplies and services.
"Our color strategy parallels the approach this company took in
developing its original toner-based check-printing systems 30 years
ago. The key to that original breakthrough was electron-beam
imaging technology, or EBI, and the high-speed print engines it
made possible. It was not invented here. Until we
acquired ownership in 2001, it provided the basis for our systems
for 20 years through a collaboration. EBI belonged to someone
else. But the founders of this company recognized its
security-printing potential. They were convinced they could
take this intriguing, but under-utilized technology, add
computerized digital value and create a company. And they
were right. The resulting systems took security-printing
capabilities to levels of efficiency and precision still unmatched
by our competition.
"Now, 30 years later, we're using essentially the same template
in the targeted development of color capability. We are
leveraging our own technical strengths with the R&D resources
of an innovative partner—Memjet, a San
Diego-based company that has developed a unique inkjet print
engine for high-speed color production."
In April, Delphax announced plans to enter the color printing
arena through a Memjet partnership that will introduce Memjet's
disruptive technology in color production to the commercial
printing industry in a robust digital print system engineered and
manufactured by Delphax Technologies. Development has progressed to
the point where Delphax plans a product introduction for drupa
2012, the largest international exhibition of new printing
equipment held every four years, in Dusseldorf, Germany.
The partnership between Delphax and Memjet brings together two
companies that hold "world's fastest" titles – Delphax for its
toner-based digital monochrome printers and Memjet for its
ink-based digital color print heads.
"Memjet has created a print head that represents an entirely new
category of digital print technology—a major step forward in speed
and economy of high-quality color production," Schilling said.
"We're excited about joining Memjet on the leading edge of
this development."
About Delphax Technologies Inc.
Delphax Technologies Inc. is a global leader in the design,
manufacture and delivery of advanced digital print production
systems based on its patented electron-beam imaging (EBI)
technology. Delphax digital presses deliver industry-leading
throughput for both roll-fed and cut-sheet printing environments.
These products are extremely versatile and handle a wide
range of substrates from ultra lightweight paper to heavy stock.
Delphax provides digital printing solutions to publishers,
direct mailers and other printers that require systems capable of
supporting a wide range of commercial printing applications. The
company also licenses and manufactures EBI technology for OEM
partners that create differentiated product solutions for
additional markets. The company's EBI technology is used in
installations in more than 50 countries worldwide. The
company is headquartered in Minneapolis, with subsidiary offices in
Canada, the United Kingdom and France. The company's common stock is
currently quoted over the counter under the symbol DLPX.PK.
Additional information is available on the company's website
at www.delphax.com.
SOURCE Delphax Technologies Inc.
