Packaging and label printer Pemara is the first company in the Asia Pacific region to invest in the much vaunted HP Indigo 30000 digital sheetfed press for folding cartons. It's a bold move, but bold moves are what Pemara is used to making.
An early adopter of digital printing technology for its label printing business, Pemara’s investment in HP’s cutting edge digital sheetfed press for folding cartons comes as no surprise.
But it was a decision carefully weighed, as GM Damien Prunty explains: “This was unlike any other press investments we have made in our 47-year history. Here we are, bringing in a brand new print technology, introducing a new press platform that very few companies in the world have implemented, needing to understand a unique technology and put in place a team of people to develop the products in a competitive market.
“And then there’s the end user, who’s also new to it. We had to make sure that when we were ready to start production, there would be a market ready and open to taking up the technology,” he says.
Pemara has established a new, dedicated business division called Pemarapack to drive the uptake of the technology in the pharmaceutical and FMCG market.
Although challenging, the team’s task is made that much easier by the high level technology on offer.
“There’s no question about the quality of the product,” Prunty says. “It’s as good as offset; it’s liquid ink, not powder toner; it’s the real thing. Customers just need an understanding of where it fits into their business.
“For our customers who already buy digitally printed labels and cartons from us [printed on HP Indigo WS6600 technology], it’s not such a leap. They ‘get’ the technology, they get the broader benefits of buying digital. For the others, there’s an education process that needs to follow.
“Digital printing is not, by any stretch of the imagination, the answer to everything – and we certainly run a variety of printing technologies here at Pemara – but it is an answer to many of the trends and demands facing the pharmaceutical, healthcare and FMCG markets today,” he says.
To find out more about Pemara's take on market drivers and the benefits of digital printing, see the latest print issue of PKN, Sept-Oct 2014, out now.
The HP Indigo 30000 was supplied by Currie Group, who also facilitated the technical support and operator training.
Fast facts: HP Indigo 30000
Positioned by HP as “the breakthrough offset-matching solution the folding carton industry has been seeking for years”, the HP Indigo 30000’s capabilities include:
- Minimal setup, minimal waste and easy versioning
- 75cm x 53cm format
- Can run multiple jobs per shift
- Prints up to 4600 full colour sheets per hour
- Prints on any substrate from 200-600 microns
- Integrated priming unit allows usage of any off the shelf board
- HP Indigo print is compatible with industry standards for varnishes, foil stamping, lamination, cutting, creasing, folding and gluing and is both FDA and EU compliant for non-direct food contact
