Ricoh, during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, introduced a new “ultra-affordable” Direct to Garment (DTG) printer, called the Ri 100, which the company expects to make a major impact with a variety of small businesses, municipalities and other organizations. The Ricoh Ri 100 was announced as a CES 2018 Innovation Awards Honoree, as judged by a panel of independent industrial designers, independent engineers and members of the trade media, across 28 product categories.
“Customers have been asking for an affordable, low risk entry point into the DTG market, and our team is the first in the market to deliver on that,” said John Fulena, Vice President, Commercial and Industrial Printing Group, Ricoh USA.
The company describes it as a great fit for souvenir shops and other businesses looking to leverage the impact of branded t-shirts, canvas bags, pillows and other fabrics. The Ri 100 features ready-to-go drivers and design software alongside what Ricoh describes as an intuitive heating unit for prepress wrinkle-smoothing and post-press ink curing. Leveraging technology from Ricoh and AnaJet, a Ricoh company, the Ri 100 prints at up to 1,200 x 1,200 dpi in vivid mode using Ricoh’s print heads with modular drop-sizes.
The system is designed so users can start producing DTG applications right out of the box with minimal to no training. It can fit on counters or desks, so it can be added to a business without existing dedicated space for printing equipment. The total package (Ri 100, heating unit, software and accessories) is planned to retail for less than US$5,000, which Ricoh describes as a price that is significantly lower than that of traditional DTG printers.
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