Inkjet & Digital Printing
ESED Installs HP Indigo press 3500 to Offer Offset-Quality Digital Printing
Wednesday 12. August 2009 - HP announced today that ESED (Erste Soester Electrische Drukkerij) of Soest, The Netherlands, has installed an HP Indigo press 3500 to provide offset-quality digital products, including commercial and packaging proofs, short-run commercial print and books, for its customers.
Established in 1912 and now employing 25 people, ESED combines traditional service and print-quality values with an up-to-date attitude towards technical innovation. In addition to offering conventional offset, toner-based digital and, now, HP Indigo digital offset printing, the company also offers full in-house finishing.
According to Christiaan Alkema, director, ESED, in the last twenty years, the company moved swiftly from letterpress to offset lithography, and added a toner-based digital capability five years ago. The recent addition of the HP Indigo press 3500 has added to ESED’s capabilities and is enabling it to expand its product and service portfolio.
“Today’s young designers only work in full colour, so the requirement for one-, two- and three-colour printing is declining,” said Alkema. “At the same time, marketing and distribution styles are changing, so there is an increased demand for shorter runs and faster turn-around times.
“Quality is a given and no longer separates us from the competition. Deliver quality or lose your customers,” Alkema added. “One of the reasons we invested in the HP Indigo press 3500 was because the quality of the selling sheets we produced on our digital toner printers was not up to the standard of offset printed products.”
ESED uses its HP Indigo press for proofing and prototyping as well as for short-run commercial work. The company actually specialises in packaging and label printing and being able to produce proofs on the HP Indigo press with accurate colours and on the final substrates is a big advantage, both for itself and for its customers.
“During our search for offset quality digital printing, we came in contact with a printer using an HP Indigo press who gave us the opportunity to test-run some jobs on its presses,” said Alkema. “Customer reactions were immediately enthusiastic and we knew that our only way forward would be with an HP Indigo press for its “offset quality” print.”
Looking to the future, Alkema sees a great potential for personalised print in the Dutch market. ESED already prints some personalised materials for seminars, conferences and exhibitions. “We used to print conventionally and then imprint personal information digitally,” said Alkema, “but the HP Indigo press enables us to offer high-quality full personalisation. Now we are ready to follow the trend for highly personisaled printed products.”