CJ King goes digital with Currie Group and HP Indigo 5500s

Digital printing has been around for some time now and while the early results were promising, there has been a general resistance from most mainstream offset printers toward this technology.

Print quality and throughput didn't seem to match up to its offset counterpart.  Over time, significant changes to digital technology has meant an increasing acceptance by many retail printers to the various digital systems in the market place, but trade printers still kept digital technology at arms length. With the launch of the latest HP Indigo presses, the industry has started to take notice.

HP's Indigo press was the first (and probably one of the few) digital systems that came even close to offset printing quality. In recent years, massive advances to the Indigo's development have meant that many international printing industry are drawing parallels between the new breed of HP Indigo and offset presses. Finally a digital system that can match offset in print quality, but deliver a much faster turn around time and greater production flexibility and even better, consistent colour from one order to another.     

After careful consideration, Chris King confirmed a deal with Currie Group in Melbourne that would see the arrival of 2 'State of the Art' HP Indigo 5500 presses, a four colour and a six colour to CJ King's production facility by November 08.

"While CJ King & Co Printers will continue to be at the forefront of CMYK offset trade printing, digital now has established itself as vital part of the future of printing in Australasia and we have embraced it," said Chris King, manager.

"With over 4000 clients on our database, we have been constantly turning away jobs that fit perfectly into the digital workflow. We will be taking a serious look at the short-run market and offering 24-hour turn around times on most of our standard products."

The deal was brokered with one of Australia's biggest suppliers of printing equipment, the Currie Group for the supply of the two presses. Even though the HP Indigo is the Rolls Royce of digital presses in the world, CJ King & Co will be taking delivery of two presses to ensure down time is eliminated.

"It's imperative that if we offer a 24-hour turn around, we must maintain it. We have made a huge commitment to digital we can't afford to drop the ball," added King.

The company is embarking on an extensive staff training program to market and produce the highest quality digital achievable. Once established into the workflow, new products like variable data printing will be available. In the interim, the focus will be to offer most of the standard CJ King product range in shorter print runs and with faster turn around times.

Clients logging on the www.cjking.com.au will only notice an increase in the amount of quantities available with more changes coming in time.