28 Plastics in Packaging © 2014 Sayers Publishing Group • October

DIGITAL PRINTING

T here was no blind guessing when HPIndigo put its money where its mouth isand spent seven years intensively research-

ing and testing a new generation of printingpresses, which is now ready to penetrate the pack-aging and label markets. The new presses arebuilt in impressive new premises, on the border ofthe Negev desert.

Founded in 1977, Indigo was an independentcompany until it was acquired by HP in 2001. Itbecame the leader in the digital printing industry,developing, manufacturing and marketing digi-tal offset printing presses, proprietary consum-ables and workflow solutions. The presses areused in commercial, label and packaging convert-ing environments to print a large variety of appli-cations.

HP Indigo uses a proprietary, patented tech-nology and a business model that sells both thepresses and the consumables. Ranked numberone in the US for the high-volume digital pressmarket, HP claims a 75 per cent share of theworld market for digital commercial photo print-ing. Offices are located around the world butheadquarters lay in Ness Ziona, a southern sub-urb of Tel Aviv in Israel.

HP is Israel’s second-largest foreign employerafter Intel, with a workforce of 6,000 this year,including Scitex and Israeli divisions of HP Labs,HP Software and others.

In 2004, HP made a €22 million ($29m)investment in a new multi-purpose site at KiryatGat. The Campus, training centre, packagingcentre and factory are located on the border of theNegev desert, about 15 miles from the borderwith the Gaza Strip, started in 2012.

This 118,000sqft facility builds the newpresses and manufactures the ink. Frames, feed-ers, and other components are assembled withimaging engines into finished presses. Engineersand technicians follow the Kaizen and Lean Man-ufacturing processes implemented throughoutthe facility. For instance, double-drawers are usedto keep all components replenished with minimaleffort. Other operator-replaceable consumables,such as the blanket are also produced on site.

But also core to the HP business is the ink pro-duction: the HP Indigo ‘ElectroInk’. This liquid inkcombines the advantages of electronic printingwith the qualities of liquid ink. It contains chargedpigmented particles in a liquid carrier.

The ink is supplied as a concentrated paste,which is then loaded into the press in tubular car-tridges in a ‘clean hands’ operation. Inside thepress it is automatically fed into ink supply tanksand diluted with oil, to form a fluid mixture of car-rier liquid and colorant particles ready for print-ing.

Together with a sister plant in Singapore, theKiryat Gat ElectroInk plants provide all the tElec-troInk entire installed base of Indigo pressesworldwide.

HP Indigo today In 2012, the launch of the HP Indigo 10000 digi-tal press marked the first time that the companyembarked on a platform that supports a papersize beyond A3.

This year, the company released two newproducts based on the same type of engine/format— the HP Indigo 20000 and the HP Indigo 30000— aimed at the flexible packaging and folding-cartons markets, respectively.

The HP Indigo 20000 Digital Press isbranded as ‘the next stage in high capacity, highprint quality web-based packaging production’.

The web width is 30-inches or 762cm, allowing animage format of 736 x 1,100mm to be printed ata speed of up to 42 linear metres (138 linear feet)per minute in full colour print or up to 31 linearmetres in four-colour mode.

The ink system is composed of seven ink sta-tions with a useful double white tube. Spotcolours can be created in-house and they match97 per cent of the Pantone colour range.

An internal drying system has been set tocomply with food packaging regulations in orderto reduce the wetness level on the print, and com-ply with food packaging regulations. A reverse

Hungry for food Ready to take a share in the printing of flexible food packaging, one press manufacturer sees a bright future for digital technology.Dominique Huret* reports

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Plastics in Packaging © 2014 Sayers Publishing Group • October 29

inspection bridge is designed for multi-applicationsupport of both surface and reverse printing aswell as providing interfaces for a camera inspec-tion system.

The value proposition for this press focuseson flexible medium-size packaging convertersactive in short runs (below 5,000sqm), lookingfor value-added services with just-in-time pro-duction and delivery. The larger customers canwork through SAP.

“Today’s flexible packaging market repre-sents 34 per cent of global retail packaging. It isa big market evaluated at around €52bn

($68.5bn), with a growth of 6 per cent,” saysEyal Amit, strategic marketing segment man-ager at HP Indigo. “But this market is purelyanalogue, with barely any digital presence.From one hand, it’s very conservative and fromthe other, it is really eager for a change. The HPIndigo 20000 answers that specific need.

“For the first time, we have a perfect fit forflexible packaging with the right format. Cur-rent flexible packaging converters are com-monly using 650mm to 1,299mm printingpresses and laminators. The format fits theirexisting equipment and meets 90 per cent of

jobs. The colour technology enables perfectcolour registration for materials in thicknessesfrom 10 to 250 microns.

“Brand owners require the highest qualityto attract the attention of consumers. Yet,reducing waste remains high on the brandowner’s agenda with substrates and inksexpensive and carbon footprint a common con-cern.”

Amir Raziel, HP’s manager for labels andpackaging, adds that the HP Indigo 20000press also targets the label sector, with variousapplications able to leverage the 30-inch wideweb, including new markets.

“It is designed for high capacity production,medium to long pressure sensitive labelruns,” says Raziel. “The target customers arelarge scale converters or visionaries. Pressure-sensitive label and wrap-around label applica-tions are okay, while 2015 will allow sleeves,IML, and wet- and hot-meld glue labels.”

Raziel makes no secret of HP’s ambitions forthe label sector: “For 2014 we have a potentialof 10 presses per year for the wrap-around and10 for the pressure sensitive labels. For 2015,five presses per year will be dedicated to thesleeves market and another five to additionalopportunities like IML.

“Nevertheless, to keep the overall perspec-tive, one has to admit that the ballpark price ofthe equipment — around €1.5m ($1.9m) — andthe HP Indigo system of ‘cost per click’ is oftenqualified as expensive by converters. Nodoubt, the acquisition of such technology has tobe balanced wisely.”

More information from HP Indigo, Einstein 10, Kiryat Weizmann -Ness Ziona, 76101 Rehovot, Israel. Tel: 972 8 9381 818. www.hp.com

* Dominique Huret is beverage and packaging expert anindependent consultancy Cape Decision in Belgium.

Market dynamicsMarket analyst Smithers Pira confirms thatthe size of the digital packaging market isexpected to grow by a considerable 375 percent by 2018, while the analogue packagingsector will only post growth of 28 per cent.

Other research on the market for digitallyprinted packaging, including labels,assesses its worth in 2013 as €5.5 billion($7.2bn) with a lion’s share of €4.4bn ($5.7bn)for digitally printed labels only.

Left: Vivian Cohen, product manager strategic marketing for HP Indigo, shows off some samplesRight: Eyal Amit explains that the time is right for digital solutionsBelow: Technicians at work, samples and printing presses at HP Indigo's facility in Israel

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