At the Dscoop Edge event in Indianapolis last week, the manufacturer unveiled the HP Indigo 120K Digital Press, which it said enables printers to move jobs from analogue to digital more intuitively and economically to meet demanding customer needs. The press can reach speeds of 6,000 sheets per hour and can produce over two million B2 sheets per month.
The machine reduces human touchpoints and enables multi-press operation by a single operator. HP said it delivers offset-matching image quality, flexible job routing between offset and digital, and an Eco mode option that reduces the machine’s carbon footprint by 11%, supporting sustainability goals.
Also new is the next-generation of the company’s B2 sheetfed digital press, the HP Indigo 18K Digital Press. The manufacturer said this machine “handles the widest range of print applications ever produced with a single B2 digital press” while advanced AI features like auto recovery and proactive alerts enhance productivity and simplify the entire production process, achieving up to 80% press availability within a single shift.
Aligning with HP’s sustainability commitment, the Indigo 18K supports Enhanced Productivity Mode (EPM), delivering 24% energy savings per sheet.
The press supports more than 2,000 certified substrates, three-quarters of which are sustainable media, and can flexibly accommodate different media thicknesses with exclusive duplex printing on thick substrates, as well as smooth handling of light substrates. The press includes up to seven colour stations that can be loaded with a variety of specialty inks.
Another launch is the HP Indigo 7K Secure Digital Press, which the company said “revolutionises” restricted digital security printing by executing security-focused print jobs in a single pass.
Collaborating with Jura JSP, this sheetfed press enables workflows tailor-made for security production lines, so users can diversify their offerings and cater to a comprehensive range of security needs.
Noam Zilbershtain, VP and GM at HP Indigo and Scitex, said: “As the printing industry embraces automation and digitalisation, HP Indigo empowers customers with unprecedented levels of productivity, efficiency, versatility, quality, and cost-effectiveness.
“Our portfolio defines the industry standard for automation and sustainability, reflecting HP’s vision for the print production floor.”
Zilbershtain also confirmed the general commercial availability of the HP Indigo V12 Digital Press, a narrow web digital press and the first press to utilise new LEPx technology. Commercial availability follows successful beta site installations including Brook + Whittle in the US.
HP has further announced PrintOS Production Beat Support for analogue printing and finishing equipment, enabling HP customers to monitor their entire production floor, not only the HP presses.
Also; the HP Indigo PQ Maestro, an intelligent start-of-day wizard that optimises press performance; Preflight, an AI-based machine-learning algorithm which learns customers’ preferences and automatically predicts the suitability of the most relevant print mode; and AAA 2.0 – Auto Alert Agent advanced, a machine-learning algorithm that increases print productivity with zero human intervention.
Furthermore, the company has introduced Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) in collaboration with Movigo to automate media transfer, saving up to two hours per day, per press; as well as the new HP Sustainability Amplifier program, created to enable printers and converters to accelerate their sustainability agenda and offer more sustainable prints.
HP said the program, in collaboration with its Sustainable Impact Strategy, aligns with the manufacturer’s commitment to renewable energy and reducing CO2 emissions.
Enhancements to HP’s PageWide Plus Package have also been unveiled, and include Performance Economy Color (EC) Mode, delivering print quality required by customers but for faster turnaround, with less colour ink and a 60% increase in productivity up to 244m/min.
Also announced; the general availability of Smart Workcell Controller, which is said to offer significant advancements in intelligent automation and productivity improvements of up to a factor of 15x; and On Press Color Profiling, automation that transforms colour profiling into a job taking less than five minutes.
Additionally, HP has announced two new capabilities that further expand the versatility of its HP PageWide Advantage 2200 web inkjet press: Heavier Media Expansion, which enables printers to use thicker substrates, for jobs up to 320gsm; and Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) for Transactional Print Systems, which the company said enables printers to capture more speciality jobs and grow their business.
HP said that, at Drupa, visitors will be able to see first-hand eight automated production lines equipped with the latest innovation across HP Industrial, involving over 25 partner companies.
At the show, the company is also showcasing the Indigo 35K HD Digital Press, the second generation press dedicated to folding cartons. With its new HD writing head and higher LPI screens, HP said it produces smoother tints, detailed small images, and micro text. This, it added, would be especially beneficial for finer graphics and images, particularly suitable for cosmetics packaging and security features required in pharma applications.
Separately, HP and Esko have partnered to deliver “an integrated solution for the production of digitally printed packaging”. The two companies said the partnership would help packaging converters streamline and automate the packaging value chain and enable brand owners to leverage digital print for packaging capabilities.
The integrated platform from HP and Esko will manage content and data across the value chain, allowing contributors to collaborate on packaging projects and reducing the overall lead time from months to weeks.
Using an integrated web portal, brand owners will be able to order their packages from converters on-demand, reducing order delivery times from weeks to days, decrease stocks, and reduce overall cost.
The integrated mass customisation offering will be demonstrated at Drupa on both the Esko and HP booths, as well as on the Drupa touchpoint packaging booth.
