Blue Star Direct is expanding and upgrading its digital fleet in Sydney with a new HP PageWide Web Press T370HD, a move it says is in response to increasing demand for agile and high-quality digital printing.
The new PageWide is part of a $5.5m investment with HP that includes an upgrade of the company's first PageWide, bought eight years ago.
David Veness, group general manager, Blue Star Direct, said, “This upgrade will deliver even greater print speeds, higher quality printing, and better performance through a combination of hardware and software upgrades.”
Blue Star Direct – part of the IVE Group – has had an HP PageWide since 2011: the PageWide Web Press T300, which has now been relocated from Sydney to its Clayton facility in Melbourne and upgraded to a T370HD.
Veness said, “The high-quality output of HP PageWide technology, and its 30-inch print format, is a point of difference in the market, and we have enjoyed a lot of success as a result.”
The upgrade process enables 80 per cent of the parts and materials to be reused while increasing the lifespan of the press.
The acquisition and upgrade has equipped Blue Star with HP’s High-Definition Nozzle Architecture (HDNA) technology, while expanding Blue Star’s HP PageWide Web Press capability to Melbourne, allowing the company to expand its service offering and customer base, which already includes many of Australia’s leading financial and retail organisations.
According to HP, the PageWide Web Press T370HD’s HDNA technology will enable Blue Star to close the gap between conventional commercial printing and traditional inkjet production capability.
Supported by a complete commercial printing production line, inclusive of inline priming, post coating and automated sheeting, the HDNA technology enables Blue Star to print on a wide variety of uncoated and coated substrates.