HP Indigo puts digital first

With print solutions in flexibles, cartons and labels, as well as commercial, HP Indigo is well positioned to understand the packaging print industry, global and local. Its new releases, timed for the giant trade expo drupa, which runs in May, are all based on the digital-first premise.

Craig Walmsley, ANZ country manager for HP Industrial Print, says, “Packaging print businesses are looking at achieving maximum productivity with no waste. They are looking at giving their customers on-demand packaging solutions, security, and quality. These parameters can only be met by having a digital-first mindset. We are seeing double-digit growth in APJ across segments like flexible packaging and security printing.”

At drupa, HP will focus on showing end-to-end processes, rather than individual print machines. It will also be introducing AI intelligent factory and robots; and it is launching a comprehensive print production automation ecosystem.

Based on its own internal studies, HP says customers who leverage automated processes achieve 51 per cent higher volume and 80 per cent more jobs per press compared to less automated customers. These customers also grow at an average of 27 per cent year-over-year, which is higher than the industry average.

HP says its holistic approach combines effective presses with intelligent features, from job submission to delivery.

Efficiency & Performance

Specific efficiency innovations to be launched by HP at drupa include PrintOS Production Beat Support for analogue printing and finishing equipment. This will enable customers to monitor their entire production floor, not only HP presses, capturing data in real time from analogue equipment and digitalising the entire production. It is also launching HP Indigo PQ Maestro, offering an intelligent start-of-day wizard that optimises press performance.

Also new is Preflight, an AI-based decision-making tool that automatically predicts the suitability of the best-fit print mode by learning customers preferences. Then there is AAA 2.0 (Auto Alert Agent) advanced, a machine-learning algorithm that increases print productivity with zero human intervention.

“By using AAA 2.0 we experience a significant reduction in production time, saving one hour for every 80,000 impressions. This enhances our operational efficiency, and also reduces customer complaints and returns by 5-7 per cent,” says Andreas Organzidis, head of Color Digital Printing, at printing behemoth Elanders.

As the industry moves towards a more productive production floor, HP will introduce Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) in collaboration with Movigo, to automate media transfer. HP says by using the robots print centres can save up to two hours per day, per press.

Innovation Unpacked

At drupa HP will launch the HP Indigo 7K Secure Digital Press, for restricted digital security printing, which will execute security-focused print jobs in a single pass. Collaborating with Jura JSP, this sheet-fed press enables workflows tailor-made for security production lines, so customers can diversify their offerings and cater to a comprehensive range of security needs.

In folding carton HP has its Indigo 35K B2 press, one of which has just been ordered in Australia by MCC, becoming the second HP Indigo folding carton press in the country with the company successfully running its predecessor, the HP Indigo 30000.

In flexible packaging the latest HP Indigo 200K produces 30 per cent faster than its predecessor HP Indigo 25K, in what Walmsley believes is a major market opportunity for ANZ print businesses. He says, “There is half a billion dollars’ worth of flexible packaging coming into ANZ from Asia every year. Much of it is in minimum order quotas, which are significant amounts. But with the HP Indigo 200K there really is no minimum order, it is print on demand, and if based in Australia there are no shipping or logistics issues.”

Given what ePac is doing, and qlmflexibles too, now it has combined with Read Labels & Packaging and Luminar, and then there is Ultra Labels – these local companies are giving the market what it wants: secure supply, on-demand, quality printing.

In labels, HP Indigo print systems now include the 120 metres-a-minute V12, and the HP Indigo 6K and 8K presses. This drupa sees a milestone for the V12, as it will become commercially available following successful beta site installations.

Mark Daws, director of Labels & Packaging at Currie Group, which represents HP Indigo in ANZ says, “The HP Indigo presses offer maximum flexibility, they can handle everything from high-end wine labels and spirit labels with embellishments, down to simple pressure-sensitive labels we can print in just three colours, aiding the print businesses pricing parameters. Those presses can also print board to 450mm, and have no problems with uncoated stocks. Those factors are what we mean by flexible platforms. HP Indigo has the widest application range on the market, and ANZ print businesses really appreciate that, as our market leading position attests.”

In many of these end-to-end solutions is HP and Currie Group’s finishing partner A B Graphic International (ABG). Walmsley says, “ABG is very involved with HP Indigo, and produces systems with automation that fit seamlessly into the workflow.” HP has now installed an HP Indigo V12 Digital Press with ABG non-stop winding technology at HP’s Graphic Arts Experience in Barcelona.

High Productivity

The companies say that the newly introduced non-stop unwind and rewinding system from ABG is designed to integrate with the HP Indigo V12 Digital Press, offering a unified platform, that prioritises high productivity with comfort and operator safety. According to ABG, a standout feature of this system is its “unparalleled” tension control, which it says ensures reliability for a wide range of applications.

Elad Zmora, HP Indigo labels product manager, said, “The HP Indigo V12 Digital Press prints more than 7000 metres an hour and requires two to three media rolls. By replacing the time-consuming manual operation of changing, unwinding and rewinding, ABG’s non-stop winding solution increases press productivity by 10-20 minutes per hour, bringing digital value to every job.”

It is certainly the case that the ANZ label printing sector has taken to digital label presses with gusto, with almost every label print operation running lengths less than 3000 metres having a digital press to handle the work. Digital label presses are also providing a pathway to the label market for commercial printers. Colemans in the Northern Territory for example is one of the latest commercial print businesses in ANZ to start a new label printing operation with HP Indigo as the core production unit.

While HP Indigo presses until now have always been positioned as complementary to analogue presses, aimed at the smaller runs and on-demand work, the HP Indigo V12 has changed that. It is the first HP Indigo to directly target analogue, with the company saying it will replace two or even three older flexo presses. Walmsley says, “With its 120 metres a minute speed, no makereadies, up to 12 colour printing, and ease of operation, the V12 has the capability to run 10 print jobs a day with run lengths between two and seven kilometers, on its 340mm width.”

HP will also use drupa to boost its commercial presses, launching upgraded versions of the non-stop B2 press – it is now the HP Indigo 120K – and an enhanced version of its B2 commercial press, now the HP Indigo 18K, which HP says handles the widest range of print applications ever produced with a single B2 digital press.

Service & Sustainability

In service HP Indigo is continuing to develop its xRServices, with AI powered chatbox, which will mean a label print business will be able to access expert analysis of any issues at any time. Daws says, “HP Indigo knows downtime costs, which is why its uptime figures are so high. With AI, AR and xRServices HP Indigo is providing instant diagnostic help – AI will analyse the problem, ask questions and answer questions.”

According to Daws and Walmsley, the benefits of xRServices extend beyond diagnostics, to reporting, providing analytical data from the job including how much ink was used, how that compares with what would be expected, and a host of other information that can help the print business understand costs, performance and productivity.

HP is one of the corporate drivers in the sustainability conversation. Its HP Indigo presses are already built with 16 per cent recycled materials; its R series pre-owned machines with 85 per cent. Walmsley says, “Where we can use a recycled part we do.”

In Australia the company is in partnership with recycling provider Close The Loop, and has so far prevented 120 tonnes of waste going to landfill, with everything from ink cartridges to used parts being recycled. Walmsley says, “It is a great programme, we have for instance collected four tonnes of waste in the last six months from IVE alone. HP Indigo has made a point of seeking to exceed sustainability targets wherever they are set.”

With the largest stand at the world’s largest print trade show, and the broadest range of package printing equipment, visitors to drupa will get to see up close what digital first really means at HP Indigo.

(HP Indigo technology is distributed in Australia by Currie Group). 

This article originally appeared on page 14-15 of the PKN Packaging News March-April 2024 magazine.