The HP commercial segment stall, in collaboration with Redington, was in Hall 5, Stall C-18-C20. The labels and packaging segments stall, in collaboration with TechNova, was in Hall 9-C, Stall G-16, 17 & 18. With a total space utilisation of 452-sqm at the show, HP is one of the biggest exhibitors.

“This is something that the Indian print industry has not seen before,” said A Appadurai, country manager, Indigo and Inkjet Business Solutions, HP India. “But for us at the PrintPack stands, it is not just about technology, it’s about multiple other things,” he said, showing the HP xRServices powered by Microsoft Hololens 2 kit. The Halolens 2 creates a virtual-real world combination that will enable HP engineers to advise users on any issue, at any point of their print production.

Appadurai said, “What Covid-19 has done is put a lot of pressure on availability of qualified people. What the HP xRServices will do is it will offer users the need for less travel or face-to-face meetings. The user can service the most high-tech HP Indigo press. It’s not that the user will completely put the machine back in order, but it will reduce the downtime and allow the user to continue it work, while the HP engineer is on his way to set right the issue, if the matter is complicated.”

Talking about the newly introduced Indigo 15K, Appadurai said, the press is aimed at commercial and photo printers and is equipped with FM screens and a wider range of substrates, with additional options up to 600-microns (24 pt). There are new inks, which include ElectroInks premium white and invisible yellow.”

But are these presses upgradable, say for the phased out HP Indigo 12000 press? “First of all, the 12000 is not phased out,” said Appadurai. “We have got a better model. If you look at the history of HP Indigo presses, conceptually these are backward compatible with the models available in the market. The HP 10000 was launched in 2012, but it was upgradable to 12000 and even to 15K, with changes of parts.”

Packaging is recession-free, and while there are challenges there are opportunities too. The question is: where do these players fit into that space of packaging where the transition would perhaps happen.

There are the Rs 100-crore plus companies, which are catering to big brands in the country. However, within that packaging space, we have seen a large number of start-ups who have come up in the last couple of years. And their requirements are not huge but they are looking for value, which will allow them to compete with the big buyers. We believe that this is the space for commercial printers to jump into. They may not become full-fledged folding-converting packagers, but can emerge as a small to medium scale of companies. This is where we fit into the next phase of the digital market. This is a sweet spot for us,” said Ashok Pahwa, commercial business manager, HP Indigo Digital Press India and Sri Lanka.