Mark Little · Senior Director, Global Product Marketing · Ricoh USA · PRINTING United 2025
At Printing United Expo in Orlando, Morten B. Reitoft from INKISH meets Mark Little to talk about Ricoh’s VC80000, the company’s newest high-speed inkjet press—shown publicly for the first time in North America.
Mark gestures toward the towering machine beside them. “We’ve had one running in our Customer Experience Center in Boulder,” he says, “but people want to see the real thing. They’ve seen the installations around the world, and now they can finally experience what makes it so special.”
Having spent years working across toner and inkjet platforms, Mark believes the timing for a true digital shift is now. “People talk about ‘offset to digital,’ but really it’s ‘offset with digital,’” he explains. “Offset isn’t going away, but for short runs, variable jobs, and faster turnarounds, digital is the smart choice. The VC80000 fits perfectly—it’s already running in publishing, commercial print, data-driven direct mail, and transactional mail. It’s a Swiss Army knife for production printing.”
The VC80000 is a ground-up Ricoh design, not an iteration of earlier systems. “It’s all Ricoh technology,” Mark notes proudly. “Every new platform brings challenges, but customer feedback has been outstanding. One customer told me they’re saving thousands of dollars every day on metal plates alone. That’s massive, and it’s why several are already ordering their second unit.”
When asked about costs, Mark acknowledges that total cost of ownership has long been a key discussion point for digital inkjet. “We perform ROI analyses with customers before installation,” he explains. “In most cases, digital comes out ahead. Roll-fed paper is cheaper than cut-sheet, uptime is higher, and with our 23-inch web width, we can run letter workflows in landscape orientation—boosting efficiency by over 20%. Add grain-correct folding and full-speed handling of up to 300 gsm, and suddenly, commercial printers see applications they never thought were possible on inkjet.”
He highlights automation and AI-driven intelligence as Ricoh’s biggest differentiators. “Labor shortages are universal,” he says. “So we built intelligence right into the machine. The VC80000 automatically manages alignment, density, and registration—it even calibrates itself. Operators don’t need to understand every technical parameter anymore. Just push the button, and the system does it.”
During live production, the printer scans every page in real time at 150 meters per minute (492 feet per minute). “If it detects a jet-out,” Mark explains, “it corrects it instantly—milliseconds—without stopping the press. Later, it self-cleans and permanently fixes the issue. That’s ultra production efficiency in action.”
Morten laughs. “With half a million offset presses still out there,” he says, “I suppose they all just need to buy one of these.”
Mark grins. “Exactly. And if they order by the dozen,” he replies, “I’ll wrap them myself.”
Sun October 26th
Kenneth Hanulec · VP Global Marketing · E...
At Printing United Expo in sunny Orlando, Wayne Beckett from INKISH sat down with Kenneth Hanulec from EFI to talk about how the company is approaching this year’s busy and energetic show. “We love Printing United,” Kenneth said with a smile. “It’s a great community of people. It’s been super busy—day one was packed, and we’re halfway through day two and still running full speed. We’re just excited to be here.” Wayne noted that the show seemed bigger and more vibrant than before, and Kenneth agreed. “It certainly feels like there’s more traffic,” he said. “We’ve seen people from Latin America, Canada, and a lot more from the West Coast than I expected. It’s really a broad mix of visitors.” EFI’s booth was one of the largest on the floor, showcasing an extensive range of machines. When asked how conversations with PSPs were going, Kenneth explained that the focus was mainly on applications. “EFI is centered on three verticals—sign and display, packaging, and industrial textile,” he said. “All of our printers are designed to do two key things: maximize productivity and efficiency while driving the lowest cost per square foot, and enable new applications. Whether it’s clear ink, multilayer printing, or working with new substrates, it’s all about giving PSPs ways to boost profitability.” Wayne remarked on the impressive range of substrates EFI printers can handle, from textiles to rigid materials. Kenneth laughed. “I tell people—and it makes engineers nervous—that we can print on almost anything. As long as it’s about 2 inches thick or less and the process is contactless, we can spray ink onto it and make a beautiful image. Whether it’s paper, film, metal, glass, wood, or plastic, inkjet technology is incredibly versatile.” Asked if EFI has a “sweet spot” among its many printers, Kenneth replied, “I love all the children. We have over 40 printers available for commercial use across our three verticals. Here we’re showing hybrid and roll-to-roll technologies, and our partners have brought dedicated flatbed and hybrid systems as well. The strength of our portfolio is its breadth—whatever a customer’s capacity or productivity needs are, we’ve got a solution that fits.” Wayne pointed out that EFI continues to partner with Fiery for front-end solutions. “Yes,” Kenneth said. “We’ve worked with Fiery for decades. Even though we’re now separate companies, Fiery still accounts for 99% of our digital front-end sales. They’re great partners, and we really value their technology.” Turning to automation, Kenneth explained how EFI approaches it from both software and hardware perspectives. “When we talk about automation, it’s really twofold,” he said. “There’s software-based automation, which drives workflow efficiency, and then there’s hardware automation. Take our packaging solution, Nozomi—it can produce a thousand boards an hour, so you need automation to keep up with that. We’ve also launched EFI Insight, a cloud-based analytics tool that converts real-time data from the Nozomi printer into business intelligence. It helps customers improve efficiency, increase profitability, and even manage preventive maintenance. It’s still early days, but the potential is huge.” Wayne asked whether robotics was also part of EFI’s roadmap. “Yes, we’re working on various automation programs,” Kenneth confirmed. “There’s nothing commercially available yet, but it’s an area we’re actively developing.” As their conversation wrapped up, Wayne commented on how impressive the EFI portfolio looked. Kenneth nodded. “We have an excellent direct and indirect sales team, and we focus on solving real problems for our customers,” he said. “With such a wide portfolio, I’m confident we can help anyone who comes to us.” Wayne smiled. “Kenneth, it’s been great talking to you. There’s still a day and a half left—by the time you leave, I’m sure all the machines will be sold.” Kenneth laughed. “That’s always the plan.”