At the opening of the Labelexpo Americas conference, HP announced that it has achieved a milestone of 1,000 HP Indigo digital presses installed among labels and packaging customers, and unveiled solutions that help converters decrease turnaround times and grow their businesses.
The HP Indigo exhibit includes new and unique capabilities for its digital press portfolio, helping move jobs more quickly through the production process to produce more work per shift, improve print quality and extend into new business areas such as folding cartons and flexible packaging. They include:
- cut-and-stack label and folding carton production on a sheetfed HP Indigo press 5500 to handle short runs on a broad range of media
- extended media gamut capabilities for the high-volume HP Indigo WS6000 Digital Press to help converters extend beyond digital labels into flexible packaging and folding cartons
- an optional dryer for flexible packaging production to expedite jobs from the digital press to finishing
- technology upgrades for the HP Indigo WS6000 that expand the press's range of compatible media, provide greater color consistency on long runs, and allow for higher levels of utilization
- new software and finishing offerings, including technologies from members of the HP Graphics Solutions Partner program.
A once-niche technology becomes mainstream and popular
"In the 10 years since Indigo and HP signed their first strategic agreement, we have grown our customer base from a small number of pioneers using Indigo technology for label printing to 1,000 HP Indigo presses worldwide using a broad range of labels and packaging applications from HP and our partners," said Alon Bar-Shany, vice president and general manager, Indigo division, HP. "This includes 130 installations of our higher-volume HP Indigo WS6000 in more than 30 countries."
The announcements strengthens HP Indigo's position as the "one-stop shop" for digital press solutions – from all types of labels to shrink sleeves, flexible packaging and folding cartons. HP Indigo customers also can choose from an extensive selection of certified substrates, HP SmartStream prepress/workflow solutions and finishing technologies from a variety of HP Graphics Solutions Partners.
A preferred solution in digital label and packaging converting
HP Indigo is one of the top-selling label press brands in the converting industry. The company's HP Indigo ws4500 and WS6000 digital presses enable converters to provide fast turnaround, high-quality and streamlined multi-SKU production. With HP Indigo digital printing, converters' customers can better manage their brands – improving sell-through with targeted design, while lowering capital expenditures, time to market and obsolescence. Brand owners that specify HP Indigo production for the label and packaging work they buy gain the ability to affordably launch new products and gain better visibility on shelves thanks to the unique, high-quality HP Indigo liquid electrophotographic printing process.
Sheetfed HP Indigo production in its Labelexpo debut
For the first time at a converting industry event, HP has shown its sheetfed solution – a cut-and-stack label-printing workflow featuring an HP Indigo press 5500 – producing offset-quality, short-run and personalized work. The HP Indigo 5500 exhibit includes a POLAR LabelSystems solution for the production of square-cut and die-cut labels. POLAR, a leading provider of high-speed cutters, is one of the newest members of the HP Graphics Solutions Partners program. A thick substrate kit option for the HP Indigo 5500 also gives it the ability to print on board up to 18 points thick, giving converters additional options for digital folding carton production.
