Page 38 - Packaging New magazine Jan-Feb 2023

PACK & LABEL PRINTING
ePac makes monster HP Indigo order
Digital packaging print operation ePac has made the biggest HP Indigo order ever taken, specifying 50 new presses, which will be installed at new and existing plants around the world.
At least two of them are bound for this part of the world, with ePac set to build a second plant in ANZ, following the success of the first which opened just a year ago. Location of the new plant has yet to be decided. HP Indigo is supplied and supported by Currie Group in ANZ.
The ePac Melbourne plant officially opened less than a year ago, with two HP Indigo 25Ks and a pouchmaking line, and has since added a second pouchmaking line. Its managing director, Jason Brown, was one of the speakers at the Print21+PKN LIVE late last year, sharing the platform with his customer Brian Nasr of The Healthy Food Crew.
The innovative US-based ePac business specialises in printing short and medium run flexible pouches, promising its clients, who are typically entrepreneurial, foods, petfoods, lollies, snacks, nutritionals, coffee manufacturers and the like, aiming to give ‘big brand marketing presence for small brand budget.’ It has used the HP Indigo digital flexible printer from the start, initially the HP 20000, and then its successor, the HP Indigo 25K.
Virag Patel, COO of ePac, said, “Our goal is to accelerate our growth and strengthen our global presence. The commissioning of the 50 presses will enable us to further enhance our record-breaking production of flexible packaging on HP Indigo digital presses. In addition, we are strengthening our long-standing relationship with HP. Crucial to this is our vast market experience, together with HP’s digital printing technology.”
Haim Levit, GM of HP’s Industrial Print Business, said, “The ePac vision to support SME brands, and revitalise local communities, is a testament to our shared values and demonstrates that digital printing has a significant global impact.”
ePac connects plants in global network
Digitally printed packaging producer ePac has connected the production in its growing number of plants around the world with a new cloud-based system, ePacOne.
FROM A STANDING start in 2016, ePac has become the world’s biggest digital packaging print business. Its tar-
get market is rapidly growing number of small and medium sized food, nutri- tional and petfood entrepreneurs. The success of the business can be mea- sured in many ways, turnover more than US$200m, 26 plants around the world with another 11 underway, the world’s biggest HP Indigo customer – it has just ordered another 50 presses.
Now the innovative company has connected all its plants through its cloud-based ePacOne system. It means that ePac will be able to print 2.4 mil- lion metres of packaging a day for a single customer if required at its 26 plants around the world, and five million metres a day when all its planned 50 new presses and 11 new plants come on line.
The name ePacOne means one net- work everywhere, with ePac creating what it claims is the first and largest integrated network of packaging plants across the globe.
It says customers of any size will now benefit from ePac’s industry leading just-in-time manufacturing capabilities across the globe, short lead time (5-15 business days once artwork is approved) and other engagement solutions (such as ePacConnect) at competitive prices, whatever the order size.
According to ePac, its ePacOne is a proprietary, cloud-based manufacturing
platform, which enables all ePac loca- tions to be connected and managed as a single manufacturing plant. Jobs are automatically produced at the opti- mum locations, based on proximity to customer, size, plant capabilities, and capacity. It also enables ePac to split jobs, and produce them simultaneously in multiple locations.
Parag Patel, ePac’s CIO says, “With ePacOne, we are again revolutionising the packaging industry, through a one- of-a-kind proprietary platform which allows us to extend our value to brands beyond the SMB space. As one vir- tual flexible packaging manufacturing plant, we unlock ePac’s ability to print up to eight million linear feet per day, increasing to 17 million linear feet per day with our ongoing expansion.
The launch of ePacOne means the ANZ operation, which opened in Melbourne a year ago, is now connected to ePac plants across the world. ANZ is likely to see a second ePac plant open, as part of the global expansion. ■
38 ❙ JANUARY – FEBRUARY 2023
WWW.PACKAGINGNEWS.COM.AU
Above: HP Indigo 25K: ePac has ordered 50 more just like this one at the Melbourne site
Left: Parag Patel, CIO, ePac; Jason Brown, CEO, ePac ANZ; Craig Walmsely, HP ANZ