中文RISO Kagaku Corporation has introduced the ComColor GN Series, a new family of high-speed full-colour inkjet printers aimed at transactional documents, business communications and demanding production environments. The flagship ComColor GN9830 delivers simplex printing at up to 180 pages per minute, relying on stationary inline printheads that keep paper moving continuously and minimise the interruptions that slow high-volume jobs. RISO positions the range for invoices, manuals, postcards, envelopes and direct mail, with modular options that let operators match finishing and production requirements to the work in front of them.
At the heart of the launch is RISO’s proprietary oil-based pigment ink combined with a genuinely heatless inkjet process. Conventional laser systems rely on thermal fusing to bond toner to paper, a step that consumes energy and, crucially, introduces heat that can curl sheets and complicate duplex and finishing. By eliminating the fusing stage altogether, the ComColor GN Series avoids heat-related curl, helping deliver flatter output that feeds more reliably into sorters, staplers and booklet makers. That matters enormously for in-plant operations and transactional printers where a jammed finisher can undo the throughput gains of a fast engine.
The engineering story does not stop at the absence of heat. Newly formulated inks and refined printheads widen the colour gamut and improve density, while advances in paper transport and droplet placement sharpen images, fine text and machine-readable barcodes across a broader spread of substrates. Improved handling of envelopes and postcards widens the addressable application mix within a single device, so an organisation can consolidate statement printing, marketing mail and short-run collateral onto one platform rather than maintaining separate silos.
RISO has also worked on the unglamorous but commercially vital parts of ownership: startup, cleaning and sleep-mode recovery have all been optimised to reduce non-productive time, and optional high-speed scanning extends the platform into document-intensive capture workflows. For a print room measured on cost per delivered piece, those recovered minutes compound into meaningful capacity over a week or a month.
Sustainability is a stated priority rather than a footnote. RISO says its heatless process lowers typical weekly electricity consumption as measured by the TEC methodology, compared with technologies that require thermal fusing, and the main unit now incorporates 15% recycled plastic resin, three times the proportion of earlier models, as part of a programme to cut lifecycle carbon emissions. An integrated colour touchscreen even shows operators an estimate of carbon-dioxide reductions achieved, turning environmental reporting into a routine part of the production dashboard rather than a post-hoc exercise.
The strategic context is worth noting. High-speed inkjet for transaction and communication printing has been one of the most durable growth segments in an otherwise disrupted industry, as utilities, banks, insurers and public bodies seek to personalise and localise output while controlling cost. RISO’s long heritage in-duplicators and spot-colour engines gives it credibility in exactly these cost-sensitive, volume-driven environments, and the ComColor GN Series is a clear statement that the company intends to compete on speed, media flexibility and energy efficiency simultaneously.
For in-plant managers weighing replacement of ageing monochrome or light-production devices, the proposition is appealing: a single heatless colour engine that is fast enough for statements, gentle enough for envelopes, and economical enough to run all day. RISO is betting that the combination of 180 ppm throughput, flatter sheets, lower energy draw and recycled-content construction will resonate with organisations that must do more document work with less staff and tighter budgets. The ComColor GN Series therefore reads less as a spec-sheet refresh and more as a deliberate play for the resilient, recurring-volume core of the printing industry.
Source: INKISH.NEWS (inkish.news)
The competitive framing is instructive. RISO is not pitching the ComColor GN Series against the high-end production inkjet of commercial printers, but against the dense fleets of monochrome and light-production devices that still handle the world’s statements, policies and routine mail. In that segment, speed, reliability and running cost matter more than creative colour, and a heatless engine that simply stays flat and keeps moving is a compelling proposition. In-plant managers at banks, insurers, utilities and public bodies face relentless pressure to cut cost per document while absorbing seasonal peaks, and the GN Series’ modular finishing and scanning options let them scale capability without re-platforming the whole operation. RISO’s bet is that the resilient core of printing, high-volume, recurring, compliance-driven document work, will reward vendors who optimise for energy, media flexibility and uptime rather than headline colour specs. If the company is right, the ComColor GN Series positions it strongly precisely where print volumes are stickiest.
Seen against rival cut-sheet inkjet devices from Ricoh, Canon and Canon’s vario family, the ComColor GN Series’ differentiator is its combination of very high engine speed with a genuinely cool running process, which protects both the media and the finishing line downstream. Total cost of ownership, not just the sticker price, is what in-plant and transactional buyers actually model, and lower energy draw plus reduced waste from curl and misfeed strengthens that case materially. The in-plant market has proven remarkably resilient precisely because it sits on top of unavoidable, recurring document volume that cannot be fully digitised away, and vendors that serve it with dependable, economical colour will keep a durable franchise even as commercial print churns. RISO’s threefold increase in recycled resin and on-screen carbon reporting also speak to procurement teams that now face their own sustainability scorecards, making the GN Series an easier internal sell than a comparable device without such credentials.
