International trade journalists and analysts have flocked to Israel, home of Indigo, this week to get the first glimpse of the latest, pre-drupa technology from HP, who has made clear its strategy is to take a bigger piece of the traditional offset market with its digital solutions.

Taking visitors through the Tel Aviv-based Indigo R&D centre, HP representatives unveiled the new HP Indigo 10000 Digital Press, which it claims is the first offset-quality digital press in a B2 size format, and which will form the centrepiece of the company’s stand at drupa.

The 10000 is a 75-cm sheetfed press that prints at speeds of 3,450 sheets per hour in full colour, and up to 4,600 sheets per hour in EPM. The company says it combines HP Indigo offset-matching print quality with up to seven-colour printing, with duplex functionality and substrate flexibility.

Commenting on the new press, Christopher Morgan, senior vice president, Graphics Solutions Business, HP says,  “For many of our customers, their HP Indigo digital print volume is the fastest growing segment of their business, and makes a disproportionately high contribution to their profitability,”

“With the new HP Indigo 10000, we are responding to a long-standing need for a B2-size, offset-quality digital press, while our new Indigo 5600 and 7600 models will allow our customers to add more value to their offerings.”

HP says its new portfolio will help printers extend the advantages of digital even further into traditional analogue print markets and produce more high-value personalised or custom materials for their clients.

Along with the 10000, HP is also making headway in the packaging market with the release of the HP Indigo 20000 Digital Press, a continuous-feed press designed for flexible packaging, capable of gravure-quality printing on films as thin as 10 microns with a printing frame of 73.6 x110 cm and in-line priming unit for industry-leading substrate flexibility.

Moreover HP has also unveiled the HP Indigo 30000 Digital Press, a sheetfed press designed for folding cartons, supporting substrates up to 24 points/600 microns and an in-line priming unit.

Morgan continues, “With the scope and scale of today’s announcements, we are fuelling an unstoppable industry transformation from analogue to digital printing.

“Our new digital solutions strike at the core of the printing market and are able to meet the toughest requirements of world-class brands, publishers and print service providers.”

Other solutions launched at the event include:

• Three higher-speed HP Inkjet Web Press models featuring advanced ink and printhead technology.
• A new HP high-speed imprinting solution for adding monochrome or full-colour content to pre-printed offset materials

Worldwide, HP now has installed more than 60 HP Inkjet Web Presses, more than 6,000 HP Indigo presses and more than 10,000 HP Latex wide format systems. HP also has invested more than $1bn in research and development of new graphics solutions.

HP will display the new solutions at drupa 2012 in Düsseldorf, where it will be the largest digital printing exhibitor and will have the second-largest booth at the show.

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