Two companies’ first co-developed solution fills unaddressed need in high-volume digital pre-print applications
HP and KBA announced plans to develop the HP T1000 Simplex
Color Inkjet Web Press, a high speed, high volume, 110-inch -wide (2.8 metre
wide) simplex inkjet web press for pre-printing of corrugated top liner. This
will enable corrugators to combine many individual jobs together on a roll or
across rolls for short, mid or long runs. Unlike traditional analogue
pre-print, every box can be different.
Planned to print at speeds of up to 183 metres (600 feet)
per minute and produce up to 30,000 square metres (300,000 square feet) per
hour, this inkjet press will print corrugated liner rolls that can then be
placed directly onto existing industry-standard 2.5 or 2.8 metre (110
inch-wide) corrugators. This press will
be the first solution co-developed by the two companies since the announcement
of their strategic collaboration at Graph Expo 2014 in Chicago on 28 September
2014.
Centralised corrugated box plants serving major retail
brands will especially benefit from this digital pre-print solution for all
corrugated print applications. Brands are increasingly requiring just-in-time
inventory, shorter runs, and faster turn-around time. HP’s inkjet technology
enables significant time, material, and shipping cost advantages when compared
to analogue processes. Digital preprint is more efficient than post-print
alternatives.
“Addressing the enormous digital opportunity in the
corrugated market requires best-in-class technology innovation, a portfolio of
solutions, scale, and a market vision,” said Aurelio Maruggi, vice president
and general manager, Inkjet High-speed Production Solutions, HP. “The new press
will transform the short and mid-range corrugated packaging market,
dramatically disrupting operating models and costs and more importantly create
new value for brand customers.”
HP and KBA both bring proven legacies of endurance, scale
and innovation to their joint initiative. This year, HP celebrates its 76th
anniversary and its 31st year of Thermal Inkjet innovation. KBA is a
197-year-old company and the second-largest offset press manufacturer
worldwide.
“KBA has a rich heritage of developing innovative solutions
that meet or exceed customers’ quality expectations,” said Christoph Müller,
executive vice president for the Web Press Product House, KBA. “In working with
HP, we will combine our complementary technological strengths for the needs of
packaging converters.”
HP Thermal Inkjet Technology helps meet converters’ needs
for high-quality print, along with high-volume productivity, reliability and
versatility. Ultimately, it opens the way to game-changing value chain cost
savings and capabilities for brands and packaging converters.
HP’s accelerated entry into corrugated packaging
At drupa 2008, HP announced its first Inkjet Web Press.
Since then, the company has expanded its portfolio to its current lineup of ten
presses across five web-width platforms transforming the publishing and
production mail market.
In May 2014 at Interpack, HP announced its intent to enter the
corrugated packaging market. In June, the company announced its first web-press
offering for this market. Fewer than 90 days later the first HP T400 Simplex
Color Inkjet Web Press was installed at Obaly Morava – Czech Republic. At Graph
Expo, in September 2014, HP announced its partnership with KBA. The new
web-press offering is in addition to the HP Scitex sheet-fed corrugated
solutions offered by HP.
