THE first trial print runs have run off our new HP Indigo 200k BETA digital press – the first in the UK and one of only three currently released worldwide.
The digital press – which offers benefits including short-runs, unlimited unique designs/variable data, increased productivity and energy efficiency – will revolutionise the company’s printing capabilities on both flexibles and board.
It was delivered to our Telford site (Amethyst) last week, with the installation process beginning immediately – and full print trial runs began yesterday.
The HP Indigo 200K Digital Press has been designed to print on any off-the-shelf substrate – including traditional flexibles, papers, board and even canvas – and offers increased productivity as well as stunning print quality.
Peter Ralten, commercial & business development director, said: “Telford was the birthplace of industry, so it is quite apt that the next phase of the digital revolution starts here too. Last week was exciting for everyone involved when the press arrived – but yesterday perhaps topped that, seeing it print for the first time.
“The print quality was remarkable, and even running at slower speeds for yesterday’s trial print runs, it was a very impressive machine to watch.
“As you can imagine, installing something like this is not a quick job, but we’re hoping to have the press commissioned and running by around the middle of May.
“At Sirane, we have been looking into digital print for a while now, realising it is where the future lies. The HP Indigo 200K digital press, with its incredible increase in productivity, opens new business opportunities for us. With the unmatched HP Indigo quality and versatility, we can’t wait to see the results of adding it to our portfolio.”
The HP Indigo 200K Digital Press has been designed to give digital packaging converters the competitive edge with better productivity, on-demand delivery, no minimum orders, unique designs, reduced energy consumption, and minimal waste.
“Digital printing isn’t just about short runs,” said Peter Ralten, “if a company wanted 100,000 stand-up pouches or more with 100,000 different, unique designs, then digital printing makes that possible, which opens up exciting possibilities.
“But at the same time, short-runs are a key feature of the digital press, and again will offer our customers a service which we are not currently able to offer.
“When we began exploring our next step in printing technology to expand our capacity and capabilities, it was abundantly clear we needed a press that could handle a very wide range of substrates and offer superb print quality.
“From the range of substrates that the equipment can handle to the print capabilities, there isn’t much that cannot be achieved with this ground-breaking new HP 200k.
“At times we will use this press purely for the excellent print quality that can be achieved, at other times it might be variable data or security features. This type of versatility we have not seen from other printing methods or manufacturers.
“As well as flexible packaging, we also have our board division, and the HP Indigo 200K will offer the same printing flexibility on a range of different boards.”
The new, series 5, HP Indigo 200K digital press, prints up to 56 m/min (183 fpm) and increases the productivity of high-margin, sustainable short runs of digital flexible & board-based packaging, which can be delivered in days, not weeks.
The press showcases a 30% increase in speed and 45% boost in productivity compared to the HP Indigo 25K. Featuring gravure-matching colour quality based on the HP Indigo Liquid Electro Photography (LEP) and One-Shot Colour technologies, the new press offers the widest available range of ElectroInks.
Sirane is an innovative packaging development-to-manufacture company, with expertise in absorbency and material science. The company’s specialisms include: board; bags, pouches & film including traditional flexibles; absorbent products; assembly & fulfilment; plastic replacement and more.
Flexible packaging solutions offered include stand-up pouches, quad-seal pouches, retort pouches, pillow-packs (centre-seal pouches), 2 or 3-side seal pouches, printed film on reel, thermally-insulated reusable bags, twisted-handle paper bags and ovenable/microwaveable packaging – all of which could be digitally printed.
Peter Ralten added: “Sirane offers a huge range of flexible packaging solutions, ranging from paper-based heat-sealable barrier films and recyclable plastics through to traditional flexibles. The HP Indigo 200K will offer something different and exciting to all our flexible packaging customers, no matter what substrate they use.”
Sirane has four main divisions: food packaging; horticultural; medical & healthcare; and lab supplies & services. The company is based in Telford, UK (3 sites), with additional manufacturing in Guadalajara (Mexico), Hranice (Czech Republic), and Grand Prairie (Texas, USA). We also have a global network of agents/distributors.
