20 < 2015 • April

Mutoh - for creative, state of the art solutions

portfolio and intended for long-term outdoor and indoor

applications, the environmentally responsible UMS inks

combine key benefi ts of resin-based, eco solvent and

mild solvent ink chemistries, as well as a range of inks for

sublimation (such as the DS2 inks, which are 100% VOC

free) and for UV printers.”

In fact Mutoh has both ISO 9001 certifi cation for

comprehensive quality management and ISO 14001 for

its environmental management policy, environmentally

responsible development, robust manufacturing, best in

class equipment and the company develops and produces

CE, ROHS, WEEE and REACH compliant products.

Intelligent Interweaving

and Dropmaster

Some years ago Mutoh developed its Intelligent

Interweaving Technology, which reduces or even

totally eliminates the typical problems associated with

conventional digital inkjet printing such as horizontal

banding, step mismatch banding and the visible eff ects

of missing or misfi ring nozzles. Benefi ts include better

overall print quality, enhanced operator comfort, improved

Although R&D, engineering,

parts procurement and man-

ufacturing are dealt with at the

Suwa Factory in Japan, Mutoh

Belgium is in regular, direct

contact with Mutoh Japan with

respect to engineering for development input, product

evaluation and application testing relating to performance,

user comfort, fi rmware and ink evaluations. The company

also designs ‘in the box’ confi gurations and schedules

product releases in the EMEA region.

Comprehensive range of products

Nick Decock, International Marketing Manager at Mutoh

Belgium, initiated our meeting remarking that solvent is not

‘the asbestos of the industry’, which some competitors are

trying to suggest. “We have been using environmentally

friendly inks for many years, including the new Universal

mild solvent ink, with nano-size highly durable colour

pigments, new blend of milder and non-aggressive

solvents & multi-resin mix. Specifi cally formu¬lated for

Mutoh’s roll-to-roll sign & display wide-format printer

NEWS AND TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW

Mutoh Belgium in Ostend, which is now a fully fl edged subsidiary of Mutoh Japan, plays an important part in sales,

marketing, application engineering, distribution, logistics, training, after sales support and service in the EMEA region

- particularly in Western & Southern Europe, the Adriatic countries, the Middle East and Africa.

By Ton Rombout

working tolerances using recommended print modes

that are less vulnerable to overfeed or underfeed. This

prevents production loss and improves print production

planning & scheduling. The Mutoh website features a

video clip, which explains this technology.

Brand new, and specifi cally developed for Mutoh’s dual

head ValueJet models, DropMaster is a revolutionary

print automation technique, which eliminates the need

The new Mutoh DrafStation RJ-900XG.

A Mutoh ValueCut contour cutter.

21 <2015 • April

USER EVENT

for cumbersome and time consuming media dependent

head adjustments. Knowing the media thickness and

consequently the drop-throw distance between print head

and media surface, DropMaster is capable of automatically

recalculating and adjusting uni/bi-directional fire timings. It

does this regardless of resolution and print speed.

Günther Gaus, Product Development Assistant at Mutoh

Belgium explained: “DropMaster eliminates the need for

Managing Director Akio Kotake

Mutoh Belgium nv is a fully fledged subsidiary of the

Mutoh Holdings Co. Ltd., Tokyo, Japan. Akio Kotake (60)

has been the company’s Managing Director for twelve

months now. Last year he arrived from Japan to visit

Ostend, following a long career as a graduate electrical

engineer with JVC, initially in televisions, cameras and

audio equipment. Later he joined the professional

product department at a subsidiary in the UK and spent

5 years in London and another 4 years in Milan. In 1997

he returned to Japan, to join JVC.

In April 2011 he went to Mutoh Japan. Having spent 4

years working for the Mutoh holding company, also at

the factory in Suwa, he transferred to Mutoh Deutschland

in Düsseldorf. He was appointed Managing Director of

Mutoh Belgium on 8 August last year.

Mr. Kotake has been living in Ostend for a year now and

feels quite happy there. Because of his background in

Europe he is a fluent English speaker, so “my integration

went well and I feel very much accepted” he smiled,

having related an anecdote about one bad experience.

“Sales in the EMEA region are constantly improving and

when it comes to contacts with Japan, I’m very happy

to contribute to R&D and marketing strategies with

our experienced team of engineers and marketers in

Belgium. It is the Spirit of Takumi: constant innovation.”

individual head adjustments for each media type and

automatically recalculates and adjusts the drop-throw

distance between the print heads and media surface. This

produces an overall improvement in image definition &

smoothness and significant time savings.”

Do take the time to explore this amazing technology in the

video clip on Mutoh Belgium’s website.

Introduction of the

DrafStation RJ-900XG

Nick Decock: “On our website (www.mutoh.be) we aim

to provide an overview of all our products and services.

At the upcoming FESPA in Cologne, we intend to release

a new addition to our dye sublimation printer line-up -

referred to as DrafStation RJ-900XG. This new 42” (1080

mm) wide CMYK high quality dye sublimation machine is

a printer for digital transfer applications such as banners,

flags, soft signage, interior decoration, sportswear and

transfers onto all kinds of objects, ranging from mugs,

cups and mouse pads to snowboards.”

The compact DrafStation RJ-900XG incorporates a piezo

drop-on-demand print head offering print resolutions up to

2880 dpi. It is capable of firing droplets from 3.4 to 49.5 pl.

The capability to fire larger drops in particular is essential

for speedy dye sublimation applications compatible with

lower print resolutions. The printer comes with a stand

and non motorised roll-off system. Mutoh also supplies an

optional motorised winder system for media rolls up to 30

kg, which will roll-up finished prints.

The RJ-900XG uses Mutoh’s genuine DS2 series dye

sublimation inks, which are 100 % VOC free and do

not require risk labelling. Available in 1 litre bottles, the

inks deliver top scores in wash fastness, rubbing and

perspiration. Transfer is possible onto polyester objects,

mixed fibre fabrics (minimum 80 % polyester) or polyester

coated objects. Mutoh DS2 inks are Ökotex Standard 100

compliant. They can be loaded into refillable cassettes

or into Mutoh’s optional bulk ink system offering an ink

autonomy of 1.2 litre per colour. The DrafStation RJ-900XG

printer is also compatible with Mutoh’s regular water

based dye and pigmented inks for indoor and short term

outdoor graphics.

Divergent Print & Cut solution

Mutoh didn’t go for a combined print/cut combination,

because the average economic lifecycle of a cutter is

twice as long as that of a printer. Combining both units

in one integrated machine would drastically reduce the

functionality of the cutter. It would be better to use a Mutoh

ValueCut (contour) cutter and a (Mutoh or not) printer.

Moreover, the cutting operation has very little in common

with the printing operation.

You wouldn’t want the machine’s transport wheels to run

across printed stickers and the time to cut the stickers is

usually less than that needed to print them. Mutoh’s dual

device Print & Cut concept is cheaper than an integrated

print & cut device. It features printing and cutting at the

same time, no shrinking of stickers - time to let the output

dry, reliable contour cutting with a unique job recognition

feature, ready for any contour cutting software, and

alleviating the need for constant supervision.

Other new equipment

Mutoh has an extensive and versatile product assortment

- ranging from sign & display for outdoor applications,

indoor and digital transfer for banners and CAD, to

specialty and industrial LED UV flatbed or hybrid

printers, as well as direct to textile printers. Nick Decock

specifically mentioned the ValueJet 426 UF, ValueJet 628

and ValueJet 1626 UH, which we covered earlier in the

January 2014 SignPro Europe issue. Specifications can be

found on the website.

Mutoh will display its new equipment in its booth at the

upcoming FESPA show in Cologne, from 18-22 May (Hall

6, Booth T30).

Akio Kotake, Managing Director of Mutoh Belgium.

An impression of the Dropmaster technology.