Originally posted at Print Week

Kodak has launched what it claims is the world’s fastest black and white inkjet press, the Kodak Prosper 1000 Plus.

The machine, which is powered by Kodak Stream inkjet technology, adds enhancements to the transport and software capabilities of the Kodak Prosper 1000 Press.

The manufacturer said the 300m/min press, which can operate at speeds of up to 4,364 A4 ppm, is well suited to meet the changing needs of inkjet press printers in the book publishing industry.

Kodak worldwide director of sales and marketing for inkjet presses Will Mansfield said: “The book printing and publishing industry has been greatly impacted by emerging digital technologies.

“Printers are searching for ways to produce shorter runs quickly and profitably. The Kodak Prosper 1000 Plus Press meets these needs head on, delivering print quality and productivity akin to offset, but with the immediacy and versatility of an all-digital workflow.”

The compact monochrome machine offers one-over-one perfecting, with a print width of up to 622mm (24.5in). It features the Kodak 700 Print Manager digital front-end, an ink saver mode which provides up to 30% reduced ink usage depending on the application, micro-level text enhancement, a new finishing interface and reporting features.

The Prosper 1000 Plus inkjet press, which is available to order immediately, is expected to start shipping around October 2015. It is field-upgradable for current customers of the Kodak Prosper 1000 Press, who can easily upgrade at the time of release.

The expected price point for the press is around $939,000 (£615,000), which excludes the rewind unit.

Kodak vice-president sales, B2B North America for strategic accounts, government and enterprise business Vahaaj Khan said: “We’ve seen some incredible excitement from people telling us how impressed they are about the increased speed and productivity of the Prosper 1000 Plus.

“Everybody who has been exposed to the Stream technology is very excited about it. The demand for this inkjet press has been very upbeat and we look forward to having a very successful year with it.”

Separately, US direct mail printer Wilen Direct signed for a Kodak Prosper 6000C at last week’s Hunkeler Innovationdays event in Lucerne, Switzerland, as part of a wider purchase which also included a Kodak NexPress SX3900.