Product of the Month: HP Indigo 10000

With the Indigo 10000 in a tough marketplace like Surat, HP has been able to make inroads in Gujarat where printers spend their money wisely, says Rushikesh Aravkar.

12 Feb 2016 | By Rushikesh Aravkar

HP’s unique Enhanced Productivity Mode (EPM) provides a 33% faster throughput of 4,600 colour sheets per hour

When one observes the larger format digital segment, one realises that many machines have been introduced since Drupa 2008. However, none of the manufacturers have been able to taste commercial success except HP. The B2-size Indigo introduced by HP during Drupa 2012 proved to be a game-changer for the company in this space.

The company positioned Indigo 10000 as “the machine which will take it into the heart of the offset market.” It was projected as the first offset-quality digital press in a larger format suitable for printing nearly all the commercial offset jobs possible with B2 size, including pocket folders, six-page brochures and large lay-flat books. A close look at Indigo’s construction tells us that it has been designed just like an offset press – a plate, a blanket and an impression cylinder.

By the end of 2015, there had been 230 installations worldwide of the duplex sheetfed liquid toner HP Indigo 10000 presses. Of these, three machines have come to India, which were installed at Mazda Imaging in 2013, Glo Digital Press in 2014 and Klick Digital Press in 2015.

10,000 ways to create print

Speaking to PrintWeek India, A Appadurai, country manager for HP India, highlights the machine features. “The 10000 can print regular commercial jobs digitally; it can print on a large variety of media, with many colour options and many options for workflow, including many third party solutions.”

The machine can also handle a wide range of different substrates, from 65-400 gsm in weight to 75-450 microns in thickness. In addition, it can cope with thousands of different substrates, encompassing coated, uncoated, textured, coloured and metallic substrates - to name but a few.

HP claims the press can deliver monthly production volumes of up to two million sheets. It uses HP’s ElectroInk technology and has full variable data capability. Other features of the machine include automatic blanket and photo imaging plate (PIP) changes, which save operator time, along with an automatic registration system and integrated spectrophotometer, to help ensure consistent print quality.

That’s true. The press handles a 750x510mm sheet in landscape format and prints up to seven colours at a top speed of 3,450 sheets per hour.

“HP’s unique Enhanced Productivity Mode (EPM) provides a 33% faster throughput of 4,600 colour sheets per hour, which allows customers to deliver more sheets per hour at lower unit cost. This means increased profitability and faster job delivery times,” adds Appadurai.

HP’s entry into offset class

While HP looks at the 10000 as an entry into the offset class, the three Indian installations have been in the photo album space.

Appadurai explains, “These installs might have been in the photo space, but the customers are already doing up to 40% of their volumes in the pure commercial print space. The 10000 puts the crossover between offset and digital at 500-600 copies, depending on the complexity of the jobs.”

In the current scenario, for any commercial offset printing company, 20-25% of the volumes are short-run (less than 500 copies). Appadurai makes a valid point. Consider this: If a commercial print firm with four or more offset presses installs an Indigo 10000, according to Appadurai, the company not only makes one-fourth or one-fifth of his painful jobs profitable but also releases the one offset press’s worth of capacity.

“It is just a matter of time before the offset printers take a plunge in the big format digital,” says Appadurai.

The alternatives

In the digital B2 space, alternatives to Indigo 10000 are the Fujifilm Jetpress 720 and the Screen Truepress JetSX.

Lately, the sheetfed inkjet segment has seen a flurry of activity and a lot will transpire at Drupa 2016. Heidelberg is set to launch B1 inkjet press and so is Landa.

Konica Minolta and Komori will launch their co-developed B2 inkjet press. Komori’s B2 sheetfed inkjet press, Impremia IS29, will also be unveiled at the show. The Impremia IS29 came out of collaboration with Konica Minolta, which sells an almost identical machine under the KM-1 badge. Canon has its Océ Varioprint i300 waiting in the wings.

While Indigo 10000 has proven its mettle in the market, it would be interesting to see where it stands when these competitors join the party.

SPECIFICATIONS
Max speed: 3,450 B2 sheets per hour Max resolution: 2,438x2,438dpi Max sheet size: 750x530mm Paper weight: 65-400gsm Paper thickness: 75-450 microns Contact: A Appadurai appadurai.a@hp.com

Klick banks on Indigo 10000: The first in Gujarat

Surat-based Klick Digital Press is a printing industry success story. The digital printing company was established in 2009 when the owners of Klick Digital Imaging, a digital photo lab powered with Noritsu and Kodak equipment, decided to venture into the digital photo album market.

“We have been in the business of photography since 1993. Initially as Pratibimb Colour Lab with silver halide technology and then as Klick Digital Imaging since 2001,” explains Bhavan Navapara, director of Klick, adding, “Later, we became Klick Digital Press with the acquisition of HP Indigo 5500 in 2009. We have put together what we feel is the best company in the photobook space with over two decades of experience of dealing with photographs.”

With this Indigo investment, Klick was able to establish itself as a key player in the burgeoning market in less than two years. All was well at Klick until a fire gutted its factory in July 2012.

The Indigo was gone.

“It was a tough time for us. We were losing business every day. We couldn’t wait for the insurance procedures to get through. HP bailed us out when they agreed to supply new equipment and loosened the payment terms,” recalls Navapara. Without much ado, the fire-stuck firm brought in a new HP Indigo 5600 in October and re-build the business. In 2013, it added a Scodix.

But the move was made in 2015.

Klick purchased the Indigo 10000 press. The machine was installed in December 2015. “It was a well-planned decision. With the Indigo, we had focused on photo albums. However, there was an entire textile market right in the city, which was totally untapped. We were already late,” says Navapara.

For Klick, a larger digital sheet size meant being able to do short-run saree catalogues and posters for the textile market, in addition to the bigger photo albums.

Navapara cites saree catalogues as an example of work from “an untapped space.”

He says, “These are 24- or 32-page catalogues printed on offset in the sizes of 11x16-inch and 14x20-inch. However, when it comes to printing less than 500 copies, digital is cost-effective. We could have done 11x16-inch catalogues on our Indigo 5600. However, the machine is always occupied with photobook work. In addition, we are also benefitting from the white ink of 10000 for UV coated poster jobs.”

Klick is working on converting the demand of 12x18-inch sized photobooks to 14x20-inch. “In the first year, we are confident of 30% conversion,” he adds.

The Indigo 10000 will be deployed for catalogues and posters for textile market. “To start with, 50% of the 10000’s work is catalogues, 20% is posters and 30% is photobooks, since we will take some time to create the market for 14x20-inch photobooks. Having Indigo 10000 is an advantage here. We are competitive in price, quality and service. HP Indigo 10000 gives us a great option for affordable shorter runs with very fast turnaround times,” he explains.

Navapara is impressed with HP’s service support. He says, in case of critical issues, the maximum downtime that he has suffered has never been more than one day. “Recently, they placed a service engineer in Surat, so it’s a matter of two-four hours before my machine is up and running again,” he says.

Now he waits. As Klick hopes to preside over an unprecedented roster of fortunes in Surat.

THE ALTERNATIVES
Fujifilm Jet Press 720 Fujifilm’s Jet Press 720 is a four-colour B2 sheetfed digital inkjet press, which uses Dimatix printheads. Most standard B2 offset paper can be used, eliminating the need for specialised digital paper.
Max speed B2: 2,700sph Resolution 1,200dpi, four-level greyscale Sheet size 542x382mm-750x530mm Contact SM Ramprasad sm.ramprasad@fujifilm.com fujifilm.com

Screen Truepress Jet SX The Truepress JetSX is a full-colour press that is capable, says Screen, of handling a wide range of substrates. It is also equipped to print fully variable data.
Max speed B2: 1,620sph Resolution 1,440dpi Sheet size 530x740mm Contact Nitin Wani nitin@screensp.com.sg screensp.com.sg