Business News
ORWO Net Increases Capacity to Meet Growing Demand for Photo-specialty Products with HP Indigo 7500 Digital Press
Thursday 12. August 2010 - New generation press is the first installed in Germany
HP today announced that ORWO Net GmbH, of Bitterfeld-Wolfen, has installed the first HP Indigo 7500 Digital Press in Germany to increase its capacity for the production of photo-specialty products.
An existing HP Indigo press customer, the company installed an HP Indigo press 5000 in 2005 and later acquired another HP Indigo press 5000 and an HP Indigo 7000 Digital Press. At the beginning of the year ORWO Net became a beta site for testing the HP Indigo 7500 Digital Press and completed the acquisition at Ipex 2010 in May.
“Our new HP Indigo 7500 Digital Press gives us additional capacity and a number of new features that are good for us and our customers,” said Peter Ulbricht, managing director, ORWO. “We like the additional colour and quality control; the six colour option and the possibility of using white ink, and the way it integrates into the configuration of our other two HP Indigo presses.”
The HP Indigo 7000 and 7500 Digital Presses are driven by an HP Indigo Photo Enhancement Server that is able to carry out on-the-fly adjustments to sharpness, contrast and shadow detail. HP Indigo Light Cyan and Light Magenta inks further improve images, enabling better shadows and shading, and smoother and enhanced skin tones.
“Our business is growing rapidly, and we need the press to supply our b2c and b2b2c customers quickly and efficiently,” continued Ulbricht. “For photo applications, our peak season runs from November to December, when we expect to produce over 10 million page impressions. We needed to ensure that we have the capacity to support that volume. The HP Indigo 7500 provides that capability, and enables us to continue to grow.”
Taking the step into digital
Wolfen has been and important site for photo-printing, and until 2003, the hundred-year-old ORWO operated as a traditional large photographic laboratory business. Today, the company has transformed itself into a major digital photo-specialty company employing 240 people and a turnover of 27.8 million Euros (2009). ORWO Net’s digital printing activities employ 18 people and accounts for nearly 15 percent of its revenues. The company has achieved this growth by leveraging the power of the internet and of digital printing. The result is that the number of digitally printed pictures has grown from 28 million to over 300 million photos.
“At the very beginning, when we noticed the growing demand for photobooks and digital photos, we had to decide whether to outsource digital printing to a partner or to produce them ourselves. The HP Indigo presses and service helped us to make the decision to take the challenge,” said Ulbricht. “We chose HP Indigo presses for a number of reasons,” Ulbricht concluded. “We liked the reliability, the print quality and the service and relationships we have with HP.”
When ORWO Net acquired the 7500 press, it also invested in a finishing system including a book cover machine, a trim and stitching system and an adhesive binder and book production line from HP partner, Kolbus.
ORWO Net’s online sales are through the Orwo Direct, PixelNet and Foto Quelle with large distribution partners, retail customers and franchises in Austria, Germany, and Scandinavia.