Inkjet & Digital Printing
Aurika Pioneers HP Indigo 8K Digital Press to Enhance Digital Printing Capabilities
Thursday 14. October 2021 - Leading Lithuanian print house established in 1991, Aurika, has recently updated its printing facilities by investing in the worlds first HP Indigo 8K digital press, HPs latest innovation for productivity, customisation and colour accuracy.
Acknowledging that digital printing has grown in prominence in the market, the company decided to power its endeavours to enhance its label production after enjoying growth in the digital share of its manufacturing.
Established in Kaunas, Lithuania, Aurika is a major printing house in the Baltic region. The company is a market leader in the production of labels and packaging, specialising in self-adhesive labels, sticky labels, wrap-around labels and flexible packaging for a large customer base including the food and beverage and cosmetic industries.
The Baltics are fast becoming a production and industrial design hub, with competition set to increase as more and more print providers realise the benefits to digital printing. Mass customisation is also fast becoming the next frontier for both global brands and smaller companies. Aurika had already been accounting for this fast-changing market demand for short and long-runs and was looking to put plans in place to maximise quality and increase its market prominence within long supply chain production.
As a longstanding customer of HP, Aurika were producing on average 5000 jobs per month with their existing HP Indigo 6800 digital press, and six narrow web flexo presses. However, Aurika recognised the need to expand their digital printing capabilities if they were to increase their outputs and tap into trends and level-up their business.
During the coronavirus pandemic, the printing industry saw a huge rise in the need for food labels, as food manufacturers scrambled to produce enough supply to meet the surge in demand. Aurika saw this surge in demand to leverage their external marketing and held webinars, in partnership with HP, to existing and potential customers to showcase their food label printing capabilities. As a result, their customer base and profits soared, which gave the company justification to invest in a new digital press.
Aurikas investment in the worlds first HP Indigo 8K digital press seemed like a natural next step. The press has been designed with productivity in mind and has allowed Aurika to respond more quickly to changing demands. Whats more, with the new press Aurika have been able to address longer runs and colour-critical jobs, opening up a whole new market for the company. Previously, they could only take on printing jobs of up 1500 metres long, however now, they can print orders between 3000 to 5000 metres long. With the help of PrintOS, Aurika have also been able to measure their performance, which has been hugely beneficial when it comes to analysing its business operations.
The addition of HP SmartStream Designer software means that Aurikas smaller customers are not left behind, by allowing them to still create distinctive and unique labels in competition with their larger counterparts. The HP Indigo 8K is also equipped with Spot Master, HP Indigos latest colour automation technology. Spot Master is the perfect solution for Aurikas increased demand for fast and accurate printing, which uses patented algorithms for fast and accurate colour matching, to ensure every piece of packaging is identical, regardless of when it was printed.
“We anticipate that digital is going to be the future of printing, therefore and we chose to act upon this immediately” said Aurika CEO, Ar?nas Akstinas. “We have been listening to what our customers think and feel, and we found this matches with HPs values: high-quality printing, shorter print-runs and a large selection of raw materials. With the new HP Indigo 8K digital press, labels can be personalised for competitive prices in a short time frame. Our team wanted to create a unique experience for our customers, and with the new HP Indigo 8K Digital Press, the possibilities are endless.”
HP has also helped Aurika in achieving its sustainability goals. Aurika are learning that sustainability is a huge factor when it comes to customer decision making and offer a range of ecological and biodegradable label and packaging solutions. In 2008, Aurika also implemented the Environmental
Management System standard which is continuously being improved. HP Indigo End-to-End solutions provide comprehensive support to brands that want to improve their environmental impact; print waste is reduced by 40%, whilst all presses within the Indigo fleet are made with 96% recycled materials. Whats more, as part of HPs longstanding climate action leadership, HP plants a tree for every three they consume in paper.
The HP Indigo 8K digital press was introduced because label and packaging converters operating with HP Indigo digital presses were continuing to outgrow the market, driven by trends such as SKU proliferation, and the ability to optimise supply chains with on-demand printing and fast turnaround.
Aurika is the first print service provider in the world that can now respond faster to changing market demands and realise growth.