HP is joining forces with KBA to develop a high speed, high volume 110-inch wide web press for pre-printing of corrugated top liner. HP says the new HP T1100 Simplex Color Inkjet Web Press will enable corrugators to combine many individual jobs together on a roll or across rolls for short, mid or long runs. Unlike traditional analogue (offset) pre-print, every box can be different.

The company says the HP T1100 Simplex Color Inkjet is planned to print at speeds of up to 600 feet per minute and produce up to 300,000 square feet per hour, this inkjet press ‘will print corrugated liner rolls that can then be placed directly onto existing industry-standard 110 inch-wide corrugators’. Aurelio Maruggi, vice president and general manager Inkjet High-speed production solutions at HP, says, “The new press will transform the short and mid-range corrugated packaging market, dramatically disrupting operating models and costs, and more importantly create new value for brand customers. “Addressing the enormous digital opportunity in the corrugated market requires best-in-class technology innovation, a portfolio of solutions, scale and a market vision.” He says centralised corrugated box plants serving major retail brands will especially benefit from this digital pre-print solution for all corrugated print applications. “Brands are increasingly requiring just-in-time inventory, shorter runs, and faster turn-around time. HP’s inkjet technology enables significant time, material and shipping cost advantages when compared to analogue processes. Digital preprint is more efficient than post-print alternatives,” Maruggi says. Executive vice president for the Web Press Product House at KBA – which is now a 197-year-old company and the second largest offset press manufacturer worldwide – Christoph Müller, says KBA has a ‘rich heritage of developing innovative solutions that meet or exceed customers’ quality expectations’. Müller says, “In working with HP, we will combine our complementary technological strengths for the needs of packaging converters.” The technology giant, HP, says its Thermal Inkjet Technology helps meet converters’ ‘needs for high-quality print, along with high-volume productivity, reliability and versatility’. “Ultimately, it opens the way to game-changing value chain cost savings and capabilities for brands and packaging converters,” Maruggi says. A spokesperson for HP says the HP T1100 Simplex Color Inkjet Web Press is expected to be released in Australia; however, the official launch date is not confirmed yet.

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