The official unveiling and first demonstrations took place at KBA’s headquarters, in Würzburg in Germany, at the beginning of December
HP has launched the PageWide Web Press T1100S, co-developed with KBA, for corrugated packaging printing at high volumes and digital pre-print applications. The first installation will be at DS Smith’s Featherstone plant in the UK.
As more brands pursue customised and personalised packaging, converters must accommodate faster turnarounds and shorter run lengths, while producing high-quality printed solutions at lower costs. Printing at speeds up to 183 m/min and 30,600 square metres per hour, the T1100S helps corrugated converters quickly take on new, complex jobs at speed.
‘Converters and brands alike need to create more targeted, effective packaging while reducing costs,’ said Eric Wiesner, general manager, PageWide Web Press (PWP) division, HP Inc. ‘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.’
DS Smith Packaging is the first customer to install the 2.8 metre width press, which can deliver significantly higher productivity and production flexibility than traditional analogue technology.
‘We selected the new HP PageWide Web Press T1100S as the next step in our ground-breaking digital pre-print programme,’ said Stefano Rossi, CEO, 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.’
While current analogue printing technology is limited to printing multiple copies of one box design, the T1100S, with Multi-lane Print Architecture (MLPA), creates an immense paradigm shift in the production of corrugated board.
The first T1100S for pre-print liner will be installed at DS Smith’s Featherstone plant in the UK in spring 2016.
MLPA 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 makeready in between jobs, while a long run is printed in another lane.
This technology allows cost-effective customisation and personalisation of corrugated packaging, meeting the demands for shorter print runs without having to create inventory.
The press features a combination of HP Bonding Agent, HP Priming Agent and four colour HP A50 aqueous pigmented CMYK inks and can print on standard uncoated and coated liners from 80-400 gsm for greater cost savings, versatility, productivity and quality with high colour saturation, dark black optical density and crisp text. Inline and near-line coating solutions for HP Priming Agent and aqueous overprint varnishing also provides high print quality to help meet brand standards.
Optional configuration features include auto-splice/turret rewind, primer and over-print varnish coating solutions, as well as the KBA PATRAS (Automated Paper Logistics System) result in even greater efficiency of the overall solution.
