HP will have the biggest stand at drupa taking the whole of Hall 17 at some 6,200sqm, and will use the show to launch a raft of new presses. The company will have some 56 presses – 230 tonnes of kit – on show, including a new flagship HP Indigo 12000, which will ultimately supercede the B2 HP10000, although existing 10000 users will be able to upgrade. The new HP Indigo 12000 will have several productivity and quality enhancements over the HP 10000, including One Shot technology to enable a wider choice of substrates, a new screening configuration for the three-channel (CMY) Enhanced Productivity Mode (EMP), and an inline spectrophotometer.
drupa: HP set to showcase a raft of new presses
The 12000 also includes the Indigo Optimizer, which HP says can increase throughput per shift by up to 40 per cent, by using features including intelligent job sequencing and the production of proofs without stopping jobs in production. The 12000 will become available in the second half of this year. It is designed to accommodate a new imaging system – the 1,600dpi High Definition Laser Array (HDLA) technology – however, HDLA won’t be ready for at least 12 months. HP is also eyeing the B1 market, and at drupa will show a 27-tonne Indigo 50000, which is in effect a pair of Indigo 20000 reel-fed engines used for flexible packaging, enhanced to expand their capabilities for commercial print applications. According to HP the 762mm wide web press can print 32 metres a minute, and has a maximum repeat length of 1,138mm, making it capable of printing pages 10-up. HP is aiming for the 50000 to go into beta sites early next year, with commercial shipping slated for next summer, probably around the same time as the rival Landa B1 presses are expected onto the market. A new 7900 Indigo and a new 5900 Indigo will be launched at drupa. All the new presses, as well as most of the existing ones, will be compatible with HP’s new cloud-based PrintOS, business operating system, for which HP is hoping that third parties will develop apps.
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