An Advanced Look at Expo Product Launches

With hundreds of new print systems debuting at PRINTING United Expo this week, IPI editors sat down with a dozen key exhibitors on the day before the show for an advanced look at what they plan to launch. The announcements were part of the second annual PRINTING United Expo Media Day at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, which brought together more than 50 print journalists from all over the world.

Lisa Cross speaking at Media Day.

Included in the new product announcements were inkjet and toner presses, wide-format printers, automated bindery systems, and much more.

Nathan Safran, vice president of Alliance Insights, and Lisa Cross, principal analyst, set the stage with an overview of the trends and market forces driving printers. First and foremost, 2025 has been a challenging year, Safran noted. The print industry as a whole saw just a 0.6% increase in sales. Challenges around tariffs, market and economic uncertainty, and labor all contributed to those numbers. Unsurprisingly, AI is a major talking point across every level of the print industry. AI is something no one can afford to ignore, Safran and Cross stressed in the presentation.

Cross presented some highlights from a report that will come out before the end of the year, taking a closer look at how convergence is driving profitability. Those who have embraced a new segment outside of their traditional competencies have seen an average 15.6% increase in revenue, she said. In addition, they are seeing a 10.3% increase in their overall profitability.

Canon USA

Canon's Bob Barbera speaking at Media Day 2025.

Canon U.S.A. (Booth 2642), the title sponsor of PRINTING United Expo, took the stage following Safran and Cross as the first sponsor company to give the media a sneak peek of what the company is showcasing at its booth. Bob Barbera, fellow, customer marketing production, led the discussion with a look at Canon’s portfolio of printing solutions, many of which are on the show floor. This year’s theme, “Move Forward with Canon,” complements the number of solutions highlighted, including the varioPRINT iX1700, the varioPRINT iV7, and the new Colorado XL.

“These products we've announced very recently are major new product milestones for the industry,” Barbera said. “It really shows the level of commitment and investment Canon is making to this industry.”

The product portfolio also proves Canon’s commitment to growth in the packaging industry with its launch of the LabelStream LS2000 and corrPRESS iB17, its focus on intelligent automation, and its emerging technology with its first time showing HeightIQ, its new automation software for the creation of dimensional print files on the Canon Arizona printers.

Diving deeper into the global premiere of the Colorado XL, Rich Reamer, senior director, product planning and strategy, large-format systems, explained to the Media Day attendees that the new device “isn’t just a wider Colorado.” It is “modular to the max,” available in both a roll-to-roll (XL7R) and hybrid (XL7H) version. There are only two Canon UVgel 850 printheads on the device, and it uses FullBeam Curing and TRIdrive (three-roller interaction).

Fujifilm

Andrew Gunn, director of Sales Enablement at Fujifilm Graphic Communication Division (Booth 3021), introduced Fujifilm’s M.O.R.E Methodology, which focuses on the company’s commitment to Multi-platform production, Optimized performance, Revenue growth, and Expanded experiences. Fujifilm’s “Make More” campaign showcases the company’s dedication to going beyond the product portfolio and helping customers print smarter, adapt to demand in real-time, and turn operational challenges into strategic growth-driving advantages.

Andrew Gunn

At the Expo, Fujifilm is launching its first entry-level wide-format printer, the 63” Acuity TR roll-fed printer equipped with Fujifilm’s AQUAFUZE water-based UV ink. AQUAFUZE combines photopolymer dispersion with water-based UV curing to reduce printhead nozzle clogging, improve ink ejection, and eliminate the need for primers, optimizers, or topcoats.

Also new at the booth are the mid-range Revoria Press EC2100 and SC285 series, equipped with specialty toner stations in addition to their four-color toners, enabling five-color printing in one pass.

Fujifilm is displaying an entire platform of unprecedented innovation, Gunn emphasized, giving customers the power to “make more.” They can get better color and quality, print on nearly anything, increase engagement, rev up productivity, eliminate costly missteps, and grow their business more sustainably.

Agfa

Deborah Hutcheson, director of strategic business development and distribution at Agfa North America (Booth 3166),  explained that attendees at Agfa’s booth can expect a commitment to sustainability, new technologies, and automation.

“One of the things that we've been working on internally, and I know a lot of our customers are dealing with sustainability and how that can be incorporated into the print environment. It's our commitment to be the long-term partner that empowers our printing companies to operate more sustainably,” Hutcheson said.

To make those more sustainable moves, Agfa utilizes LED lighting technology and has developed a patented "Thin Ink Layer" technology that uses high-strength pigments to apply a thin ink layer, resulting in lower ink consumption and costs.

Agfa’s expo lineup includes the Pinnacle Award-winning Onset Panthera FB3216; the Jeti Tauro H3300 XUHS; the Anapurna Ciervo H2500; the Jeti Bronco H3300 HS; and the Speedset Orca. Visitors to Agfa’s booth will see the Onset Panthera FB3216 in action with dual robots, which Hutcheson referred to as “the high-five for robotics.” Essentially, one robot will be printing, while the other is handling materials.

And the sight of robotics shouldn’t alarm anyone. Hutcheson explained that this technology isn’t looking to replace anybody, but instead open their time for other areas of revenue or productivity.

“As we talk to our customers, that's one of the challenges that we're all dealing with. How do we do more with less? How do we increase our productivity? How do we increase our flexibility? But more importantly, how do we lower our cost of manufacturing? Automation is a lot of that. So, it's not that we're trying to eliminate people, we're just trying to position them for more value-added activities,” Hutcheson said. “Rather than just feeding sheets or stacking sheets. So that's why we've invested heavily in providing that level of automation, maintaining the quality, increasing your productivity, and giving you that flexibility of automation.

Muller Martini

Müller Martini (Booth 3234) used its Media Day briefing to outline a finishing roadmap for profitable short-run and book-of-one production. The remarks were delivered by Andy Fetherman, president and CEO of Müller Martini North America. The centerpiece of Fetherman’s presentation was a newly added ability of the Antaro Digital perfect binder that is making its global debut at this year’s Expo.

The world first is an end sheet capability and buffered cover matching to create hardcover book blocks inline, while maintaining high-throughput, book-to-book automation for its softcover jobs.

“We now have the ability to make a hardcover book block with the Antaro. We didn’t have that last show," Fetherman explained, "That’s new, being debuted here at PRINTING United Expo.” While the Antaro was shown at drupa, Antaro did not have this new hardcover capability.

Andy Fetherman at Media Day 2025.

Another first at this year’s Expo is the U.S. showing of the Hunkeler GEN8 EVO roll-to-stack. It is running at the joint Müller Martini/Hunkeler booth. The demonstration emphasizes the device’s ease of use and an updated interface as a front end to binder-trimmer lines.

Fetherman also discussed a sheet folder-to-binder configuration to be shown at the show floor. The production path is governed by job-ID and barcode logic, which provides a pragmatic on-ramp for cut-sheet inkjet environments, with the option to stage investments toward higher throughput over time.

Automation was another focus of Fetherman’s presentation. He emphasized the role of the linkage to connectivity in Müller Martini’s definition of automation. Specifically, he said, “Automation. It doesn’t mean putting a motor on a spindle. It means really designing things from the group up that are fully automated.”

This thoughtful approach is also evident in the branding and channel transition associated with Müller Martini’s acquisition of Hunkeler. Fetherman provided background information about the multi-year agreement between Standard Finishing Systems, Müller Martini, and Hunkeler. He explained the 17-month transition in the U.S. and Canada for much of the Hunkeler business to move under Müller Martini Corp., with uninterrupted access to solutions, parts, training, and technical services stated as a top priority. The channel approach should simplify accountability for buyers, which would theoretically maintain service continuity during the handover period due to concrete planning of pilots, installations, and spare-parts provisioning across the transitional window.

Mimaki

Mimaki (Booths 1255,1555) kicked off its Media Day presentation with highlights from its latest 3D golf project, The Art of Golf, where rising designers from Rookies partnered with the Cleeks golf club to create custom-designed golf bags. Mimaki then brings these bags to life using its cutting-edge 3D printing technology. One of these bags will be displayed on the Expo floor.

Josh Hope of Mimaki

While the 3D-printed golf bags may not be Mimaki’s headline launch, they exemplify the creative possibilities enabled by the company’s latest technologies. Josh Hope, director of marketing at Mimaki, introduced the company’s latest 200 Series which includes the TS200 1600, an advanced 64” dye sublimation printer designed to deliver professional grade quality and versatility at an accessible price point.

The TS200 builds on the power of the previous TS100, but offers faster production speeds and an expanded feature set. The press also includes an extended eight-color ink set featuring new orange and violet inks.
Hope said, “This is one of those things that I think is kind of future-driven in that maybe we're not sure exactly what people are going to do with it, but in the same way that we put the full-color 3D machine out, and people were doing all kinds of amazing things with it, I'm excited to see where we go with this technology.”

On the industrial side, Mimaki unveiled the UJF 7151 plusII e UV-LED flatbed printer which is the company’s latest iteration of its UJF flatbed printer line.

The new press features enhanced ink layering and improved jetting accuracy to diverse shapes like curved and inconsistent surfaces. The press will also feature accelerated primer application, an ink-saving feature up to 42%, and the Mimaki Application Assistant for streamlined workflow support.

For print and promotional companies working with challenging applications, Hope emphasized the potential of the new system, “This machine really offers some amazing ability […], that serialization, that personalization, using variable data to be able to print on some of the services that in the past, we couldn't do with flat bedding.”

With new technologies spanning from full-color 3D design to advanced dye-sublimation, Mimaki’s newest launches highlight that the future of print is innovative, creative, and within reach.