Agfa Introduces a New Breed of Print Predator at FESPA 2025
When I visited the Agfa stand last week, their new printing machines weren’t just flexing—they were showing their teeth. With two new apex additions to its inkjet line-up, Agfa feels like a force of technical prowess and strategic coherence.
The Jeti Tauro H3300 XUHS – the largest and most muscular of the Tauro pride – charges ahead at up to 1,280 m² per hour, driven by a 12-row print-head carriage and cured entirely with UV-LEDs, a shift that trims energy use by roughly 60 percent compared with mercury-lamp predecessors. Automation options abound: the MAX Flex roll-to-roll module lets operators switch from rigid boards to 3.3 m rolls without stopping, while dual MAX Bots can handle up to 150 load cycles an hour, keeping media flowing through multiple shifts. Primer, varnish and extended-vacuum modes add bite for corrugated and specialty substrates.
The Onset Panthera FB3216 prowls the true-flatbed niche with a 3.22 × 1.6 m table and a top throughput of 1,514 m² per hour. LED curing delivers high-gloss finishes while widening the heat-sensitive media window, and the bed-wide print bar eliminates bi-directional artefacts in a single pass. A menu of loaders, lay-tables and robots enables anything from manual one-offs to fully automated, double-sided, 1 mm-registration work.
‘Customers keep asking for more speed with less energy—and for one partner to take full responsibility,’ noted Mike Horsten, Global Marketing Manager, Digital Printing Solutions & Chemicals. ‘Keeping press, inks, workflow and service in one coordinated pack, led by a single alpha, means every part of the job runs in step.’
By the final day, every demo printer on the stand sported a SOLD sign—two Italian buyers reportedly raced for the first Panthera slot. Lead times run three–four weeks for factory build and three–six weeks for on-site installation once components arrive.
Agfa’s strategy is bigger than raw speed. Asanti 7 underpins every live demo, using intelligent nesting to curb off-cuts and a new sustainability tracker, integrated with Dataline’s MultiPress MIS/ERP, to serve up a CO₂ score for every job. Thin-Ink-Layer algorithms also further cut ink consumption.
The rest of the Agfa stand:
Anapurna Ciervo H2050 and H2500 mark the 20‑year milestone of the Anapurna family, offering output speeds of 133 m²/hr and 169 m²/hr respectively.
SpeedSet Orca 1060 produces up to 11,000 B1 sheets per hour with water‑based inks for folding‑carton and micro‑flute applications.
Asked about the road ahead, Horsten kept specifics under wraps—Agfa is a publicly listed firm after all—but offered a teaser: ‘You’ll see two more devices before the year is out, plus deeper integration of our single-pass technology into packaging. The goal is simple: extend the pride, keep it swift and keep it lean.’