Inkjet & Digital Printing
“The ONeil Database” Moves to HP Inkjet Web Press Printing in Pioneering ONeil Data Systems Installation
Thursday 26. March 2009 - HP today announced that the successful first installation of the HP Inkjet Web Press at beta user ONeil Data Systems has helped the Los Angeles-based financial and transactional print service provider enhance its business with a range of colour print services.
“The ONeil Database, Volumes I and II,” a reference title that is printed each week after the close of the stock market and then hand-couriered to portfolio managers the following morning, is among the publications the company will print on the HP Inkjet Web Press. The publication identifies 2,500 of the more actively traded stocks from the prior week and serves as a single-source reference to view the stock market, by sector or industry.
Published by William ONeil + Co., Inc., a sister company to ONeil Data Systems, “The ONeil Database” – previously produced almost exclusively in black-and white on toner-based digital presses – is being transitioned to a full-colour periodical produced largely on the HP Inkjet Web Press. This transition to colour is expected to be completed by April 10.
ONeil Data Systems has already begun printing several smaller William ONeil + Co. publications on the HP Inkjet Web Press.
More horsepower with HP
“Our commitment to meeting essential deadlines while offering high print quality and full-colour printing is the key to this transition,” said James Lucanish, president, ONeil Data Systems. “The HP Inkjet Web Press gives us the horsepower of a 30-inch-wide (762mm) digital press operating at 400 feet (122 metres) per minute in full colour. The reliability and productivity gained with the press so soon after installing it give us the confidence to use it for products like The ONeil Database, where fast turnaround is a mission critical part of the publishing process.”
The print quality available with the press, as well as the introduction of four-colour process printing, represents an important upgrade for the reference publication. “The ONeil Database” consists of two 600-plus page volumes tracking five years worth of quarterly financial data for publicly traded firms in small type. The publication assembles information that would take hours to find through Internet stock research in a single place.
Detailed charts in the publication offer historical data that is essential for portfolio managers, but can be difficult to read in a black-and-white format. A colour upgrade was previously not possible, as the firms existing toner-based presses decrease in speed when used to print more than one colour – something that would make printing the publications on Friday nights and delivering them to subscribers the following day impossible.
“We are able to print using standard, uncoated 50-lb. (~75 gsm) and 60-lb. (~90 gsm) media with the press, as well as light-weight, high-bright newsprint stock to achieve superior results,” said Mark Rosson, vice president, Sales and Marketing, ONeil Data Systems. “Normally, with the font size as small as it is in this publication, you would expect the circles in a percent sign to appear as dots on an inkjet-based production device, but the text is clear and sharp with the press, and the colour makes charts much easier to read.”
New revenue opportunities in transactional and health care documents
ONeil Data Systems has also begun producing a range of transactional and health care documents for its clients on the HP Inkjet Web Press. The company prints statements and insurance benefits information that was previously restricted to monochrome digital printing because of the limited speeds and higher costs once associated with full-colour production.
With the HP Inkjet Web Press enabling colour, ONeil Data Systems has new opportunities to upgrade transactional bills and statements into more valuable transpromotional printed pieces – statements and bills that also include higher-impact variable colour marketing messages and images tailored to each recipients data profile. The firm also is testing the incorporation of digital colour printing into benefits package packets, a process that could potentially make the packets easier to read, saving clients money by reducing the number of calls policyholders make to call centres in search of information.
ONeil Data Systems installed the press in December 2008 and, within four weeks, began producing saleable work on the device. The press has not only enabled a substantial upgrade to some current client work, it has enabled the company to seek out and secure new customers.
The HP Inkjet Web Press installed at ONeil Data Systems is a beta unit – the press is scheduled to become commercially available later this year. As a participant in the press beta programme, ONeil Data Systems provides operational and marketing feedback that enables HP to further strengthen features and support offerings upon the presss commercial launch. Additional announced beta programme participants for the HP Inkjet Web Press include CPI, which is Europes leading book manufacturer, and Taylor Corp., one of North Americas leading specialty print, media and marketing companies.
“ONeil Data Systems installation is an important first step in the commercialisation of a breakthrough platform, based on a proven and stable technology, designed to offer significant value in terms of print quality, productivity and cost,” said Aurelio Maruggi, vice president and general manager, HP Inkjet High-speed Production Solutions. “The progress this innovative company has made in a short time with the press is an excellent indicator of the tremendous success we anticipate customers will see when adopting this exciting new production printing technology.”
HPs Aurelio Maruggi discussed the latest advancements in the commercialisation of the HP Inkjet Web Press this week during an executive panel at INTER-QUESTs 2009 Digital Book Printing Forum in New York City, part of the “Publishing Business” Conference and Expo.