HP has unveiled new presses that allow print service providers (PSPs) to apply digital printing's supply chain, inventory and product marketing advantages to the sizes common in packaging production.

The 30-inch-wide, web-fed HP Indigo 20000 Digital Press and the 29.5-inch-wide, sheet-fed HP Indigo 30000 Digital Press use the same market-leading, high-quality, versatile printing technology that top brands choose for label and packaging production on HP Indigo WS6000 series digital presses.

"HP Indigo digital printing already has transformed the label market, and the larger format and higher throughput brings the unique benefits of digital to other segments of this market," said Christopher Morgan, senior vice president, Graphics Solutions Business, HP. "With these new presses, we can help packaging printers offer their customers the benefits of digital printing and redefine what is possible for the brands they serve."

HP will demonstrate the new presses in May at the drupa tradeshow as part of a full portfolio of packaging solutions from HP. The new portfolio also features an HP Indigo WS6600 Digital Press compatible with broader range of synthetic substrates, as well as HP Scitex FB7500 and FB7600 Industrial Presses that have a new white ink option for corrugated packaging.

Greater sell-through and shelf appeal with a streamlined supply chain

HP's solutions offer significant benefits for brand owners, including:

• Strong product sell-through with the ad
• option of multi-SKU strategies that maximise seasonal, promotional and cause-related marketing opportunities.High product appeal and brand integrity with an HP Indigo imaging process that outperforms flexographic and offset-printed products in several industry studies and competitions.
• Better use of capital resources with lower warehousing costs, less waste from obsolescence, and reduced up-front investments for initial orders.

One HP customer benefitting from these advantages, Avery Dennison, works with HP to increase brands' operating efficiency while developing new ways to make brands stand out in an increasingly crowded retail marketplace. The Pasadena, CA-based company is the industry's leading supplier of pressure-sensitive label substrates, and a Preferred Media Supplier of HP Indigo-certified label substrates.

Avery Dennison also uses a global fleet of HP Indigo presses to produce garment and other tags, replacing offset printing. HP Indigo technology allows Avery Dennison to achieve globally consistent, high-quality branding for small jobs, reducing the expenses brands incur to maintain inventories.

HP Indigo WS6600 accelerates digital adoption

HP Indigo presses are driving continued momentum as a cost-effective, efficient alternative to analogue printing.

Launched last September, the HP Indigo WS6600 Digital Press has led several long-standing HP Indigo customers to increase their fleet size to take advantage of an Enhanced Productivity Mode that boosts throughput by one-third. Those customers also take advantage of the HP Indigo WS6600's optional, in-line priming (ILP) unit, which enables printing on many of the standard, off-the-shelf media used on flexo and gravure presses.

Schneller Leopold, one of Germany's leading folding carton producers, recently held an open house to showcase how it uses the HP Indigo WS6600 for carton production. Other HP Indigo WS6600 users have deployed the press for flexible packaging and tube production.