Dion Label Buys HP Indigo WS6000 Digital Press
- Published: March 31, 2010
PALO ALTO, CA | Dion Label expands its digital printing capacity with an HP Indigo WS6000 Digital Press to support continued growth of its label and packaging converting business. The purchase was made during Digital Solutions Cooperative's annual Dscoop conference, an HP users’ group, in February.
Installed in early March, Dion Label's new press runs alongside a HP Indigo press ws4050. Both presses use a suite of HP SmartStream Labels and Packaging workflow solutions developed by leading converting prepress technology firm EskoArtwork.
Dion Label selected the WS6000 to accommodate the company's growing demand for the features that HP Indigo technology and its complementary HP SmartStream Labels and Packaging workflow solutions deliver, including its reported fast turnaround, high quality, and streamlined multiple-SKU production.
Dion Label's new press offers high productivity with its four-color printing speed of 98 linear fpm. The press accommodates lightweight media used in flexible packaging to the tag stocks used in folding cartons and is expected to assist Dion Label's expansion into new markets and encourage business from new and existing customers.
"Short run, multiple SKUs, repeatable high-quality printing and the ability for variable data has helped to maintain our steady growth," said Randy Duhaime,VP of Dion Label. "The purchase of the HP Indigo WS6000 will allow us to continue this trend with longer run lengths transitioning from our conventional flexographic printing department to our digital department. WS6000 enhancements, such as its large repeat length and its ability to print on substrates from 12 microns to 450 microns, will open additional opportunities."
The WS6000 Digital Press is claimed more cost-effective than analog flexographic or offset production for jobs up to 13,000 linear ft, a figure that reportedly represents approximately 80% of the jobs label converters produce, according to HP internal estimates. HP reports more than 70 installations worldwide, indicating increasing migration, the company says, from flexographic to digital printing.
The press's digital front-end solution, the HP SmartStream Labels and Packaging Print Server, powered by EskoArtwork, helps establish PDF 1.6 workflows and maximize HP Indigo presses' advanced productivity and quality. Features include: Pantone-certified conversion tables for four-, six-, and seven-color printing; "double hit" separations for more effective use of white ink; and options for high-definition or standard screening.
Dion Label's HP Smart Stream Labels and Packaging and Color Kit is a high-end color management solution for cost-effectively and quickly matching Pantone colors, flexo, offset or other print outputs. The kit, which incorporates EskoArtwork's Kaleidoscope software, automatically converts incoming jobs to the appropriate color space based on the specific ink colors installed on the press. The tool also creates spectral profiles of special colors and stores them in a database for consistent, repeatable quality.
