Inkjet & Digital Printing
Spotlight on innovation and productivity at HP Indigo Global Customer Event
Thursday 14. February 2019 - HP Inc. today announced it reached a milestone one-thousand HP Indigo Series 4 presses sold, amid growing customer momentum for its industry-leading1 29 inch (B2) platform across commercial and labels and packaging digital printing applications.
“Supplying 1000 presses to customers in 65 countries is an exciting milestone. The introduction of the HP Indigo B2 platform at drupa 2012 set the stage for a massive disruption in printing, prompting print service providers to reevaluate their businesses,” Alon Bar-Shany, general manager, HP Indigo, HP Inc., said at the annual HP Indigo 2019 Global Customer Event, showcasing HPs latest digital press portfolio and business opportunities for growth applications. “Today, adopters of HP Indigo technologies are enjoying double-digit growth thanks to their relentless drive to innovate and print different.”
Ryan Printing a New York, US, print service provider, was recognized as the 1000th worldwide installation of an HP Indigo Series 4 press with its purchase of an HP Indigo 12000 HD Digital Press . “The Indigo 12000 HD will be a perfect fit for our longer and large-size digital runs and our shorter traditional offset jobs, and will help enable us to open up new markets and capabilities,” said Al Ryan, owner and general manager, whose new press will expand production alongside its HP Indigo 7800.
Setting a new industry benchmark for quality, the HP Indigo 12000 HD has reached 50 installations worldwide, including the recent purchase of five units by Smartpress. The 29 inch (75 cm) wide Series 4 press platform also includes the oversized B1 HP Indigo 50000 for commercial and photo printing, HP Indigo 20000 for labels and flexible packaging, and HP Indigo 30000 for folding cartons.
Additionally, HP Indigos narrow-web Series 3 labels and packaging presses, including the HP Indigo 8000 and HP Indigo 6000 series, have reached 1500 installed units. Recent HP Indigo labels and packaging momentum includes:
Continued adoption of the highly productive HP Indigo 8000 Digital Press, enabling label customers to cost effectively convert medium and long runs from flexo to HP Indigo. “The HP Indigo 8000 is a great combination of outstanding productivity with renowned HP Indigo print quality. The 8000 has delivered a revenue stream equivalent to three of our flexographic converting equipment processes,” said Rocky Rahija, CEO, Flextec.
Pack Ready Laminator by Karlville, a pioneering technology extending the value of flexible packaging printing on HP Indigo digital presses, is gaining traction with eight customer installations worldwide. Offering an immediate time-to-market solution for flexible packaging converters, Pack Ready uses an adhesive-free lamination film that can meet global food packaging safety standards.
Rootrees launch of a 100% compostable packaging solution based on the HP Indigo 20000 Digital Press. “Weve made a commitment in the industry to bring environmental consciousness in packaging by addressing the full packaging lifecycle. With the HP Indigo 20000 Digital Press, were manufacturing packaging fully made with 100% compostable films with up to 75% less waste than conventional packaging manufacturing,” said Philippe St-Cyr, general manager, Rootree.
Flexible packaging converters installing large fleets of HP Indigo 20000 digital presses, including a total of 28 units at ePac in the US and eight with LVAI in China.
Customers share success stories at the Global VIP Event
More than 650 visitors, including customers, partners and print industry analysts, joined the February 11-14, 2019 event at HP Indigos headquarters, production and R&D sites to be inspired by new technologies and customers and brands sharing growth stories.
“Two years ago, we produced 180 jobs a day and last year 540 jobs a day. This year, we are averaging 5800 with some days peaking at around 30000. How else could you deliver that without a solution like PrintOS Site Flow,” said Jon Bailey, CEO, ProCo, UK.
Photo printer Albelli is enjoying new levels of productivity with its HP Indigo 50000 Digital Press. “Albumprinter is now capable of printing digitally in the B1 format, double-sided. This format opens up a new world of applications, and imposition efficiencies, which are not possible on any other Indigo press,” said Tristan Money, Chief Executive, Albelli, The Netherlands.
Continuing its hallmark culture of innovation, at the event, HP Indigo showcased its newest technologies to expand application range, such as new inks, embellishment and photo solutions. Highlights included:
Introduction of HP Indigo ElectroInk Easy Release, the worlds first digital solution for scratch-off applications, ideal for lottery cards and gaming applications.
Kurz DM-Liner digital foiling units integrated with the HP Indigo 6900 digital narrow web press and compatible with HP Indigo B2 sheetfed printing.
HP Indigo ElectroInk Silver for commercial print, now in customer testing at Truyol, Spain, offering a wide gamut of metallic colors, saving the need for costly metallic substrates while boosting high-value business opportunities for PSPs.
HP Indigo Security and Brand Protection solutions including ElectroInks Invisible Yellow and Blue – inks only visible under UV light.
High opacity Premium White ElectroInk, now launching for the HP Indigo 7900 Digital Press and commercially available for the HP Indigo 20000 Digital Press, offering the widest range of opacities in a single print process, adding impact and increasing productivity by using less ink to achieve high opacity.
A new photo profile for ElectroInks – using light black and black ElectroInks (KKLLK) sets a new standard for professional quality photo printing by creating strong contrast with excellent highlights.
HP SmartStream Collage, a new variable data image technology that manipulates elements randomly for unlimited brand impact including logos and symbols, creating new design effects for a variety of commercial, packaging and specialty items. The creation of HP SmartStream Collage projects is now simplified by PrintOS Composer and its cloud-platform processing power.
A silver halide replacement solution with the HP Indigo 12000 HD offering greater flexibility and versatility, while helping HP Indigo customers digitalize their production floor and shape the future of their business.
A photo enhancement solution from Memador optimizes and automates photo book creation with algorithms for face grouping, face detection and more.
Practicing Industry 4.0
At the global event, HP Indigo also demonstrated solutions to help maximize press efficiency and automate the production of thousands of jobs per day, including:
A new DFE version, HP SmartStream Production Pro 7.1, supporting a fully automated workflow for preparing more jobs faster and automating pre-press activities, including a super-fast pixel level viewer.
Automatic Alert Agent (AAA), a tool that scans every print and compares it to the original file, enabling automatic reprinting of flagged jobs without reducing press speed, ensuring the highest level of print quality.
PrintOS OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) enabling PSPs to uncover opportunities for improving operations, reducing overtime, and saving costs while increasing press utilization.
PrintOS Color Beat for automated color control and color excellence.