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                HP Indigo is the world’s biggest digital label press manufacturer, now the company is getting ready to launch its 120 metres a minute V12.
DAigital label disruptor
t Labelexpo Americas redefine how the printing industry The company says an HP Indigo 6K 2022, HP showcased characterises label production. or 8K operator will be able to be the HP Indigo V12 Over the course of the show, trained to run the V12 in “a couple Digital Press to the 16 letters of intent for the V12 of months”.
labels and packaging were signed by customers. The V12 is expected to replace industry for the first time, alongside “The successful industry older flexo presses in label plants.
   the HP Indigo 6K Digital Press, and a wide range of solutions for sustainable packaging, automation and applications propelling new business opportunities.
The HP Indigo V12 narrow web label press is the world’s first to use the new LEPx technology, and has the power to print at 120 linear meters per minute.
Many HP customers and partners, both longstanding and new,
visited the HP booth. Mark Daws, director of Labels & Packaging
ANZ for Currie Group, HP Indigo’s local representative, was on the stand throughout. In total, 74 demonstrations of the HP Indigo V12 and 34 demonstrations of the HP Indigo 6K took place, giving attendees the chance to experience the capabilities of each press up close, and learn more about new business opportunities, including brand protection, smart packaging, sustainable packaging and diversification to flexibles.
The main highlight from the show floor was the first public appearance of the HP Indigo V12 Digital Press, which, says HP, will
Digital disruption: HP Indigo V12
reception of the HP Indigo V12
is showing us analogue to digital transformation,” says Haim Levit, SVP and general manager of
HP’s Industrial Print Business. “The Indigo V12 is redefining how the print industry thinks about label production. The overwhelming interest from our customers in digital solutions, as they look to expand their operations, demonstrates that our portfolio is moving the needle on the digital share of the market and driving forward the digital transformation.”
The 12-colour V12 press is aimed at a sizeable chunk of the market currently produced by flexo. It has been developed to produce runs between two and seven kilometres, aiming to disrupt the market for labels currently printed flexo.
Its print engine has six print stations putting ink onto a blanket.
The new V12 sees the label
stock go through a primer unit, then into the print engine, which has six stations each capable
of doubling up, with the ink laid down onto a blanket, and then transferred to the stock at 1600dpi.
The 17-metre long V12 press
is a sizeable machine, full of the latest electronic and chemical engineering, and which will be able to be extended with non-stop feed and delivery, which HP is working with ABG to develop. Its 12 colour printing capability means printers will be able to switch between six-colour jobs without having to change ink sets, minimising downtime.
Speaking at the recent HP Indigo Better Together event, Eli Mahal, head of labels and packaging product management, said HP Indigo’s market position was 68 per cent of the digital label market in the mid-sized and above sector it operates in. He said HP sells two thirds of the 400+ label presses annually in that sector, with its HP Indigo 6K and HP Indigo 8K.
According to Mahal, the global size of the label market is 28 billion square metres, with HP Indigo presses printing around 1.1 billion square metres of that. He outlined four key areas in HP’s roadmap
for the growth of its customers: sustainability, speed, automation, and a wider applications range. 21
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