HP Accelerates Analog-to-Digital Publishing Transformation
HP has announced new digital press solutions that offer greater flexibility and higher productivity to help print service providers (PSPs) and publishers meet growing market demand for customised, shorter-run and personalised publications.
The HP T230 Color Inkjet Web Press brings new productivity and cost advantages to color publishing in 22-inch production environments. Compared to the HP T200, the HP T230 model offers a 100-per cent speed increase to 400 feet per minute in monochrome and color printing, with the same high quality the HP T200 model offers in its standard imaging mode.
The new features of the HP T230, T360 and T410 presses will become available as optional upgrades to existing HP T200, T300, T350 and T400 Color Inkjet Web Press customers later this year.
HP Inkjet Web Presses also have new media options, including100-per cent post-consumer recycled coated paper from Arjowiggins and Utopia Inkjet Gloss from Appleton Coated.
In addition, paper suppliers Metsä Board/M-Real and Arjowiggins announced they are working with HP to develop papers that deliver superior performance on HP Color Inkjet Web Presses. HP also announced an expansion in the range of inkjet web press media using ColorPRO Technologies to now include coated papers as well as uncoated.
New finishing equipment includes the Epic WebCoat 350 from Epic Products International, which provides in-line UV or aqueous coating on HP T300 and T350 production lines for durability and excellent appearance in publishing applications. Expanding the range of finishing solutions available to customers, Muller Martini - a global leader in print finishing systems - has developed a new, 42-inch SigmaLine in-line digital book production system offering a faster operating speed to match the higher throughput of the HP T410.
HP Indigo accelerating publishing growth
HP Indigo digital presses have witnessed increased opportunities by leveraging disruptive business models to create and capture value in the publishing market.
In 2011, the publishing market became HP Indigo's fastest growing vertical segment as leading printers and publishers worldwide capitalised on the numerous advantages the presses offer. Traditional publishers increased the amount of HP Indigo-printed books they order, and online providers of unique and custom books, including industry leaders such as Blurb and Lulu, continued to see expansion in demand for Indigo-printed, full-color self-published books printed on demand.
The HP Indigo W7200 Digital Press, which has an installed base in excess of 60 units worldwide, is the primary driver of rapid HP Indigo publishing page growth. The majority of HP Indigo W7200 customers use their presses exclusively for publishing applications, including color-intensive cookbooks, children's books, textbooks, teachers' editions, and scientific, technical and medical journals.
HP has updated this top-performing platform in an HP Indigo W7250 Digital Press that uses an Enhanced Productivity Mode (EPM) feature to boost color throughput by 33 percent.
Available in June, the press's higher full-color speed reduces the cost per page while increasing the number of pages produced per shift, factors that accelerate the offset-to-digital transformation in book printing by growing the number of high-quality color titles PSPs can economically produce on a digital press.
The new, 340-mm (13.4-inch) wide HP Indigo W7250 model is designed for printing up to 10 million full-color, A4 or letter-size pages per month and offers the exceptional quality and productivity needed for dedicated, high-volume publishing applications. Like the HP Indigo W7200, the HP Indigo W7250 model includes an in-line media primer that ensures compatibility with virtually any standard uncoated or coated offset stock.
HP Indigo W7200 users can add the new press's EPM feature and other HP Indigo W7250-model advancements through an optional upgrade that will be available this summer.
