Features Printing Production Inkjet
HP Unveils New PageWide Web Press

After announcing plans to develop a new inkjet-based Web press more than a year ago, HP Inc., in a co-development project with KBA, has unveiled the much-anticipated HP PageWide Web Press T1100S. The system features a 2.8-metre (110-inch) width. HP describes the new press as being ready to reinvent corrugated packaging printing for high-volume, pre-print applications.
 
HP continues to explain that digital printing is the fastest growing segment in packaging with a projected annual growth rate of 17 percent in a market expected to be worth $19 billion by 2019. The company states the HP PageWide Web Press T1100S, with Multi-lane Print Architecture (MLPA), creates a paradigm shift in the production of corrugated board.

“Converters and brands alike need to create more targeted, effective packaging while reducing costs,” said Eric Wiesner, General Manager of HP Inc.’s PageWide Web Press division. “HP Inc. and KBA have combined forces to bring the world’s most productive press to market, offering more value to high-end converters with the efficiencies of pre-print and digital in one press.”

HP explains its MLPA technology splits the web into multiple print lanes, so different jobs, with different box sizes and run lengths, can be printed in the individual lanes. Multiple ultra-short or short runs can be queued and printed together, with no make-ready in between jobs, continues HP, while a long run is printed in another lane. In essence MLPA technology, coupled with all the advantages of inkjet printing, allows cost-effective customization and personalization of corrugated packaging.

Packaging giant DS Smith Packaging, headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, has been announced as the first company to install the HP PageWide Web Press T1100S. “We selected the new HP PageWide Web Press T1100S as the next step in our ground-breaking digital PrePrint programme,” said Stefano Rossi, CEO of DS Smith Packaging Division. “Our co-development with HP has resulted in the first digital machine able to print at the speed and width we need for high-volume corrugated production. It will provide our customers with unprecedented short-run flexibility and quality consistency.” DS Smith sold over six billion boxes in its 2014/2015 fiscal year.

The HP PageWide Web Press prints at speeds of up to 183 linear metres (600 linear feet) per minute and 30,600 square metres (330,000 square feet) per hour. The inking system of the press a combination of HP Bonding Agent, HP Priming Agent and four-colour HP A50 aqueous pigmented CMYK inks. HP explains this allows users to print on standard uncoated and coated liners from 80-400 grams per square meter (GSM).

Optional configuration features include an auto-splice/turret rewind, primer and over-print varnish coating solutions, as well as the KBA PATRAS Automated Paper Logistics System.