The first HP PageWide Web Press T1100S for corrugated packaging printing for high-volume, digital pre-print applications, co-developed with KBA, will be installed at DS Smith Packaging (London, England). The company is a leading provider of corrugated packaging in Europe, and of specialist plastic packaging worldwide. It operates across 34 countries and employs over 25,000 people. Digital packaging solutions enable cost-effective, short runs and the ability to make every box different.
“Converters and brands alike need to create more targeted, effective packaging while reducing costs,” said Eric Wiesner, General Manager, PageWide Web Press (PWP) Division, HP. “HP and KBA have combined forces to bring the world’s most productive press to market, offering more value to high-end converters with the efficiencies of pre-print and digital in one press.” DS Smith Packaging is the first customer to install the 110” press, which can deliver significantly higher productivity and production flexibility than traditional analogue technology.
“We selected the new HP PageWide Web Press T1100S as the next step in our ground-breaking digital PrePrint programme,” said Stefano Rossi, CEO, DS Smith Packaging Division. “Our co-development with HP has resulted in the first digital machine able to print at the speed and width we need for high-volume corrugated production. It will provide our customers with unprecedented short-run flexibility and quality consistency.”
While current analogue printing technology is limited to printing multiple copies of one box design – all boxes look the same and are the same size – the HP PageWide Web Press T1100S, with Multi-lane Print Architecture (MLPA), creates “an immense paradigm shift in the production of corrugated board.” HP MLPA splits the web into multiple print lanes, so different jobs, with different box sizes and run lengths, can be printed in the individual lanes. Multiple ultra-short or short runs can be queued and printed together, with no make-ready in between jobs, while a long run is printed in another lane. HP MLPA, coupled with all the advantages of digital printing, allows cost-effective customization and personalization of corrugated packaging, meeting the demands for shorter print runs without having to create inventory. Corrugated converters can now print only what’s needed, when it’s needed. Printing at speeds up to 183 linear metres (600 linear feet) per minute and 30,600 square metres (330,000 square feet) per hour, the HP PageWide Web Press T1100S helps corrugated converters quickly process new, more complex jobs much faster.
With enhanced priming options (including a combination of HP Bonding Agent, HP Priming Agent and four-colour HP A50 aqueous pigmented CMYK inks), users can print offset-quality on standard uncoated and coated liners from 80-400 grams per square metre (GSM) for greater cost savings, productivity and quality with “high colour saturation, dark black optical density and crisp text.” Inline and near-line coating solutions for HP Priming Agent and aqueous overprint varnishing also provide “outstanding print quality to help meet the highest brand standards.” Optional configuration features such as auto-splice/turret rewind, primer and over-print varnish coating solutions, as well as the KBA Patras “Automated Paper Logistics System,” result in even greater efficiency.
HP partners with KBA to install first HP PageWide T1100S Web Press for corrugated packaging at DS Smith
