The biggest and busiest stand at the show is Hall 17, where HP has booked out the entire 6,200sqm, and is thought to be approaching a monumental $400m drupa sales figure.

Australian printers are among those who are taking the cheque books out, although Phillip Rennell, sales and marketing director at Australian and New Zealand distributor Currie Group, is not at liberty to reveal who is spending just yet.

He says, “Printers coming from Australia and New Zealand are embracing the complete solutions that HP is demonstrating at this drupa. It is no longer just about what the machine will do, it is about how to optimise productivity, with software, integration and automation playing a big part in that.

Steve Donegal, HP director – Global & Strategic Accounts – Asia Pacific & Japan, GSB, says, “Connection is crucial, whether that is by platform, by press, by geography, by application. Segmentation is receding; printers are looking to produce a wider range of applications.

“HP is moving forward, as is the print industry, developing ways to produce more, and more efficiently. Today for HP, only 30 per cent of the conversation is about the machine, 70 per cent is about maximising utilisation.”

Among the new launches is the HP Indigo 12000 B2 press, which Phillip Rennell expects to hit our shores next year. It has several enhancements to the existing HP Indigo 10000; however the 10000 can be upgraded in the field to the 12000. Donegal says, “HP is determined to protect a printer’s investment. We have an upgrade strategy that does not involve fork lift trucks.”

HP is also launching its PrintOS at this drupa, which it describes as an operating system for a business. Rennell says, “It is a platform from which our customers will be able to draw on knowledge and software as they need or want it. Printers will be able to connect online to their production centres, and they will be able to use any number of a host of apps as they need them to help in their business.”

Rennell points to Siteflow, a workflow app, created to optimize scheduling, as an example. It was originally created by Precision Printing, but is now available to all HP users.

He says, “Currie Group is not just selling HP Indigo kit. We are positioning ourselves as a strategic partner for print businesses. It is not just selling a piece of kit, which is tactical; it is about the sales, the scheduling, the prepress, technology, the productivity, the finishing, and the substrates. This is strategic, and this is what HP and Currie can offer.”

Two innovations to watch out for in the future include the new HP PageWide C500 Press, a flexible and robust industrial post-print corrugated solution powered by HP PageWide Technology, and the new HP Indigo Digital Combination Press, enabling HP Indigo print and digital embellishments in a single pass. 

HP says the new HP PageWide C500 Press introduces a highly versatile, offset-quality cost effective solution for corrugated direct-to-board printing. The company says it can integrate into a standard production environment, from large integrated packaging converters with centralised or distributed printing, to small, independent sheet plants, enabling printers to affordably adopt digital technology for mainstream production and reinvent a segment ripe with opportunity.

Digital printing, the fastest growing segment in packaging, has a projected annual growth rate of 17 percent in a market expected to be worth US$19bn by 2019.

For combination labels' production, the HP Indigo Digital Combination Press concept will incorporate HP Indigo print and digital embellishments in one press, creating a fully-digital, single-pass solution to deliver high-value labels and packaging production. Developed in alliance with JetFX, HP says it will enable streamlined production of digital spot and tactile varnishes, digital foils, as well as embellishments of virtually unlimited designs made possible using HP SmartStream Mosaic. IT provides a single point-of-control for all functions to the digital-front-end of an HP Indigo WS6800 or 8000 Digital Press.