Memjet, from startup to nonconventional industrial inkjet weaponry
With the launch of DuraFlex, the US company enriches its offerings with a new generation of printheads and readies a paradigm change in inkjet integration
Digital printing is nothing new, and there is little left to say about its advantages. Similarly, the potential of the inkjet is a well-worn theme. For a couple of years, however, the digital transformation of printing processes has been in the spotlight in sectors where there are significant volumes and economic value at stake. Although inkjets, so far, only account for a negligible volume of labels, flexible packaging, and both folding and corrugated cartons, the technology is now a categorical imperative, and the manufacturers battle it out with digital and hybrid machines. That hyperproductive inkjet platforms can be built is a well-known, but not obvious, fact. So far, the successful companies are mostly giants (Konica Minolta, Fujifilm, Ricoh, Canon, Heidelberg) or smaller companies like Durst, Barberán, and Landa in packaging or MS and SPGPrints in textiles. To achieve this, these companies sometimes use proprietary technology; in other cases, they integrate third-party components. More than one manufacturer attempts to “hybridize” printing processes in which it is the leader — just think of the advances from BOBST and Gallus. In short, digital transformation is an increasingly urgent issue.
What’s inside an industrial inkjet system?
Shorter print runs, reduced margins and delivery times, the decline of traditional business models, workflow efficiency, compatibility with different materials, eco-sustainability: these are the issues that influence purchasing decisions by printers and converters. One wonders, then, why entrepreneurs should care about what’s inside their printing presses. After all, “the important thing is that it works.” Yet, in a deeply technical sector such as ours, this premise is only partially correct. Printers have been personally selecting equipment and consumables for decades, and it is quite obvious that they also tend to do so with their new digital “toys.” Over the last decade, since inkjet technology has achieved industrial-level performance, each equipment manufacturer has made its own unique choices about printheads, electronics, software, inks, pretreatment and drying systems, and feeding units for sheets, panels, and rolls. These decisions are crucial for many end-users in choosing the supplier and the type of machine they will entrust digital production to.
Unexpectedly, among the threads of this intricate skein, space opens up for a game-changer like Memjet.
A retrospective
Those who came across Memjet at drupa 2012 remember a company with limited media power, on whose stand a small group of OEMs displayed their machinery — low-cost toys compared to the innovations introduced at the show by large manufacturers. Yet, Memjet technology has been welcomed as a small revolution in terms of both quality and positioning. But let’s take a step back.
The technological basis of Memjet is laid, in 1996, by Kia Silverbrook, a controversial Australian inventor and entrepreneur with almost ten thousand patents and patent applications in different countries to his credit. Turning Memjet into an influential player is the American billionaire and philanthropist George Kaiser, one of the company’s main investors since 2004. Thanks to his contribution, Memjet develops the first generation of “page width” printheads (as wide as an A4) with five color channels (cyan, magenta, yellow, and double black) — disruptive for its very high resolution and a drop size just over one picoliter.
In the following years, with the help of a newly introduced set of their auxiliary components, Memjet lays the groundwork for the birth of new compact printing solutions, whose first prototype sees the light in 2009. Subsequent evolution of this technology takes place in 2011 when the company makes it possible to configure it with up to five side-by-side heads, allowing it to be also used in large-format printers. In 2013, Memjet introduces the option to dedicate one of its heads to a single color. “It wasn’t and isn’t enough to offer an OEM a good printhead and say, ‘Now do something!’,” explains Gianluigi Rankin, Director of Product Marketing at Memjet. “That’s why Memjet has developed a complete system, which includes electronics, software, ink supply, etc. That’s how we penetrated professional markets, including labels and packaging.”
DuraLink: the industrial breakthrough
The innovation that brings Memjet to the industrial world comes in 2017, with the launch of DuraLink, a new generation of heads — with a single color channel and a 2.1 pl drop size, accompanied by an extensive set of components including dedicated inks, software, maintenance modules, waste ink management, ink supply, and data feed. DuraLink stands out for its high performance, allowing printing up to 203 linear meters per minute, and for the redundancy of the 5x nozzles as well as for the option to place up to 12 heads side by side, reaching print widths of 2.5 meters. On the technological level, the main change concerns the choice of materials and the positioning of the heating element (which enables the ink to properly jet) on the roof of the chamber, rather than in the middle of it. These factors increase the head’s longevity, bringing it up to 200 liters for the new DuraLink XL version. The head is combined with a new generation of pigmented inks, whose price is in line with the expectations of a public accustomed to industrial consumption. At the same time as the DuraLink launch, Memjet decides to rebrand its first generation of heads as VersaPass. “The impact produced by DuraLink in two years is greater than that produced by VersaPass in ten years,” continues Rankin. “We were recognized as having excellent print quality but were criticized for the short head life and high operating costs. Today, however, our technology is also interesting in the eyes of commercial printers and converters who consume hundreds of liters of ink per month.”
That Memjet has hit the mark is not just a perception; it is confirmed by the interest of almost 200 OEMs, of which about 80 are already in the advanced testing phase of the technology or waiting for a quotation for a specific configuration. In two years, 11 manufacturers have already presented platforms based on DuraLink heads, including MGI with its AlphaJET printing and finishing system.
The DuraFlex revolution
Closing the gap in the industrial sector, Memjet launches DuraFlex, its third generation of printheads, in September 2019. Equipped with four color channels and 2x nozzle redundancy, DuraFlex heads are available in two widths, A4 (222.8 mm) and A3+ (324.4 mm), and are accompanied by a modular system of components. DuraFlex shares a number of features with the other Memjet heads, but a few differences stand out, and it is positioned as a middle ground between VersaPass and DuraLink. DuraFlex uses the same latest generation inks created for DuraLink, but has a lower speed than DuraLink and allows up to four side-by-side heads, covering print widths of up to 1,270 mm. The basic component of DuraFlex is a module that houses the head, electronics, power, capping and wiping systems. This saves the OEM time and money during integration.
“DuraFlex is three times faster than VersaPass, but cheaper than DuraLink. It is a head designed to meet the quality and reliability needs of manufacturers and converters in the mid-range of commercial printing and flexible packaging.”
— Kim Beswick, General Manager of Memjet
With 1,600x1,600 dpi, 2.1 pl drop size and the latest generation of pigmented inks, DuraFlex offers excellent results in terms of quality, accurately reproducing very fine details and microtexts. A further advantage of DuraFlex is the “flexible” (consumption-based) ink pricing, which gives Memjet and its partners some freedom in positioning the product. With meticulous work on raw materials and manufacturing processes, Memjet aims to bring the DuraFlex (still undergoing testing) to a durability of at least 80 liters for the A4 version and 200 liters for the A3+ version, a real revolution when compared to the handful of liters that a VersaPass can jet.
Towards new horizons
The number of new partners and products and the decision to raise the performance bar pose important technological challenges for Memjet, most of all in the formulation, production, and supply of inks capable of meeting the quality, durability, volume and price levels that the market expects. This is why Memjet has partnered with Kao Corporation since the launch of DuraLink, resulting in the availability of new products: orange, green and violet inks for DuraLink XL and a new generation of aqueous pigment inks for DuraFlex. The latter promise full compatibility with natural and coated papers, corrugated cardboard, self-adhesives, and flexible packaging films. On the food safety and eco-sustainability front, Memjet and Kao are working to obtain the leading international food safety certifications and make their inks compliant with Nestlé guidelines. Durability of prints made with the new ink, based on accelerated aging tests, is already over 40 years when exposed to light and 25 years to ozone. Finally, Memjet is developing dedicated pretreatment chemistry, which will be disposable in the future, to further improve adhesion on critical materials.
Customer success, the key to organic growth
Memjet has understood before others that, in a mature and competitive market, it is essential to contribute to the success of its customers, leading it to launch a strategy of proactive involvement with its partners and set up a dedicated team. The work of the Memjet Customer Success team starts with pre-sales and includes services such as technical support for design and integration, product life cycle analysis, and application development consulting. In parallel, the team produces samples to customer specifications. Once the application is stabilized, they move on to the demonstration and training phases. “In the past, the release time for a product based on VersaPass was two or three years. With DuraLink we have successful cases that have taken less than six months to develop,” explains Dave Gelvin, SVP Customer Success at Memjet. “On average, projects based on our technologies see the light of day in a year. With DuraFlex, we aim to reduce this time to three or four months.” Memjet is aware that cost uncertainty and the difficulty of defining the role and commitment of investors are the main inhibitors in launching an integration project. For this reason, the company formulates tools able to provide the customer with a clear perspective on costs and release times. “Competitors with piezo technologies tend to provide printheads and specifications; we aim to solve customer problems with as little effort as possible for their and our R&D,” concludes Gelvin.
“We want to be the Tesla of industrial printing, so we invest resources and creativity to make every product based on Memjet technology sexy.”
— Kevin Shimamoto, Chief Marketing Officer of Memjet
The importance of knowing how to “tell” technology
While more mature OEMs have a clear view of the market, most integrators base their supply on the growing demand for digital transformation. Many have a rather vague idea of the needs, application challenges and language of their target customers. On the other hand, more and more printing and packaging professionals base their purchasing decisions on the supplier’s reputation, expertise and adherence to precise value models. That’s why Memjet builds a team dedicated to supporting OEMs in overcoming the challenges they face every day in entering the market. Memjet’s Marketing Services department, led by the company’s Chief Marketing Officer, Kevin Shimamoto, aims to develop and deliver targeted content for the industries in which each OEM is active. Together with Oscar Ibarra, the company’s Director of Marketing Communications, Shimamoto builds a team of experts that produces white papers, case studies and communication campaigns for over thirty OEM partners, as well as documentation to support the product. “The target customers of Memjet and our OEMs are extremely diverse in terms of culture, preparation, sensitivity, specialization, perception of quality and price,” explains Shimamoto. “That is why we try to formulate specific content and messages for our partners in North America, Europe, and Asia. We want to be the Tesla of industrial printing, so we invest resources and creativity to make every product based on Memjet technology sexy.”
Interview with Len Lauer, CEO of Memjet
Behind every special company, there are special men…
Memjet is the child of a group of extremely farsighted engineers, united by the desire to turn the single-pass inkjet into an industry-wide dream. As for me, I have worked for forty years for ICT companies, and since 2010, I have been at Memjet’s service.
What challenges are you facing?
In the world I come from, the development cycles are 3–6 months, up to a maximum of 12 months. In this industry, it also takes 24 months to start a dialogue with an OEM and another 24 months before monetizing. For a manufacturer, the decision on a new imaging system is a long-term process that is carefully weighed.
What’s the connection between Memjet and George Kaiser, your backer?
Kaiser is focused on philanthropic activities for the poorest children, who experience the disadvantage of not having parents, financial resources or sufficient cultural stimuli. His mission is to create better conditions for children and their families, starting with education, literacy and rehabilitation, so that parents are reunited with their children, and so that richer families interact with less well-off families. Everything George does goes to charity, including the wealth generated by Memjet. It is motivating to know that the fruit of one’s work is also destined to do something good for society.
What makes Memjet unique?
We are resourceful, fast, passionate and creative. We give people the freedom to make key decisions in supporting OEMs. We like to work in an informal, stimulating, collaborative context. Speed, simplicity and profitability are our value propositions.
How much do you invest in R&D?
For years, R&D investments have outpaced profits, but with DuraLink and DuraFlex the balance has changed. Today we are at 50–60% of turnover, and in two or three years we expect to reach 20–25% and to stabilize at 15%-18%. Even with very strong growth, significant percentages will remain.
How important is intellectual property?
Patents are an enabling factor and a means of protection; we have registered thousands between the United States, Europe and Asia. We need them to protect our know-how, but also to spread the message of the single pass. We had a dispute with HP, and we settled it with a cross-licensing agreement from which we mutually benefit. We announced something similar with Canon, and we will do it with other brands.
Isn’t the proliferation of Memjet-based products likely to be counterproductive?
I never believed that. We think about Gore-Tex in clothing or Dolby technology in hi-fi. In the face of excellent common technology, it is the prerogative of each brand to release a unique product.
Why offer a turnkey solution?
Since we announced the potential of the single pass, the industry has asked us to prove its effectiveness as a system. This has led to a delay, and millions of euros invested in the development of ink delivery, control electronics, and maintenance. Today we have a complete subsystem that offers OEMs more speed, quality and lower costs than piezo. What was a disadvantage has now become an advantage.
Is this all-out competition?
Yes, but our advantage is having heads with five color channels, while piezo brands have to build more complex, much more expensive systems to achieve the same widths and performance.
