Leading label producers on both sides of the Tasman have reinforced the market leadership of HP Indigo in the sector with their latest investment decisions.
Excel Digital in Wellington, NZ and Alpha Label in St Marys, NSW have both installed HP Indigo WS6600 Digital Presses from the Currie Group. They are focusing on a similar strategy to expand their offerings and gain new custom with the leading digital label technology.
Following expansion into label printing for the first time in 2014, Excel Digital intends to grow this segment to comprise 50 percent of its entire business within the next three years.
“The HP Indigo WS6600 Digital Press will open up new markets for us, as well as help us to better service our existing customers with enhanced speed, quality and creative options,” said Steve Matthews, CEO, Excel Digital. “Our services extend beyond printing labels, however. Our aim is to help our customers sell more products through creative, innovative and personalised solutions.
“The quality of the print produced by the HP Indigo WS6600 Digital Press is amazing. We’re also astounded by its speed – it prints eight times faster than the printers it replaces, so we can now produce the same amount of work in 12 hours that previously took 70 hours.”
The HP Indigo WS6600 Digital Press is the fastest format digital press on the market and is compatible with over 2,500 substrates.
The new addition will empower Excel Digital to take on new packaging work, such as folding carton, for the first time. This, coupled with white ink capability, will enable the company to push further into the L&P market, printing clear, vivid graphics on an increased number of substrates including dark, transparent, metallic and recycled papers.
The HP Indigo WS6600 Digital Press incorporates new, on-press, on-demand special effects so that digital embellishments, such as raised text and textured effects, can be created during the print process. Eliminating the need to spend time applying digital embellishments after printing will result in significant time savings and higher throughput. Excel Digital has also invested in Color Logic software to add a further range of options to create eye-catching labels.
Excel Digital will also utilise the HP Indigo WS6600 Digital Press to better service small to medium enterprises (SMEs) by offering the flexibility to order short print runs cost efficiently, utilising customisation where necessary.
“Eighty percent of businesses in our market are SMEs, employing fewer than 20 people and producing small batches of produce that require short print runs of packaging or labels,” said Matthews. “Their success can be driven by digital printing, and we’re proud to be able to offer the right short-run solutions to support them.”
Excel Digital started life as a small copy shop 20 years ago. Today it is a leading commercial printing company with clients from the government, education and retail sectors, in addition to its core customer base in the boutique beverage market. The company prides itself on innovative thinking, offering the services of a communications company while staying true to its roots as a print company.
On the other side of the ditch
- Bedding in the new press at Alpha Label, (from left) David Poole, Rakesh Chand and John Russell.
It's a similar story for Alpha Label in St Marys to the west of Sydney. Looking for a competitive edge and in pursuit of an expanded customer encouraged the company to break into digital print production with a HP Indigo WS6600 press as the press best suited for its needs.
According to David Poole, managing director, it is the versatility of the press that makes the difference.
"We’re always looking for a competitive edge, as well as ways to provide better service to our customer base and potential new clients, and the HP Indigo WS6600 Digital Press has given us the opportunity to offer a real point of difference,” he said. “With the machine’s unrivalled speed and efficiency, we’ve been able to produce more work at a faster rate, without compromising the quality that our customers expect.”
Mark Daws, general manager ANZ – Labels & Packaging Division, Currie Group, is chuffed with the decision. “It’s great to see another label printer expand their services into digital. The new press offers great potential for Alpha Label to increase its customer base even further by delivering high-quality work on a range of applications.”
Alpha Label prides itself on accommodating all label types, both in the longer and shorter run markets. Producing labels at up to 40 linear metres per minute in colour for a wide range of applications, the new HP press will allow Alpha Label to offer greater flexibility for its customers.
Steve Donegal, country manager, Indigo and Inkjet Digital Press Solutions echoed the encouragement. “It’s very exciting to see a successful printers such as Excel digital and Alpha Label get into digital for the first time. We’re looking forward to seeing how they will diversify their offering to provide an even greater range of labels and packaging options for its growing customer base.”
Leading label producers on both sides of the Tasman have reinforced the market leadership of HP Indigo in the sector with their latest investment decisions.
Excel Digital in Wellington, NZ and Alpha Label in St Marys, NSW have both installed HP Indigo WS6600 Digital Presses from the Currie Group. They are focusing on a similar strategy to expand their offerings and gain new custom with the leading digital label technology.
Following expansion into label printing for the first time in 2014, Excel Digital intends to grow this segment to comprise 50 percent of its entire business within the next three years.
“The HP Indigo WS6600 Digital Press will open up new markets for us, as well as help us to better service our existing customers with enhanced speed, quality and creative options,” said Steve Matthews, CEO, Excel Digital. “Our services extend beyond printing labels, however. Our aim is to help our customers sell more products through creative, innovative and personalised solutions.
“The quality of the print produced by the HP Indigo WS6600 Digital Press is amazing. We’re also astounded by its speed – it prints eight times faster than the printers it replaces, so we can now produce the same amount of work in 12 hours that previously took 70 hours.”
The HP Indigo WS6600 Digital Press is the fastest format digital press on the market and is compatible with over 2,500 substrates.
The new addition will empower Excel Digital to take on new packaging work, such as folding carton, for the first time. This, coupled with white ink capability, will enable the company to push further into the L&P market, printing clear, vivid graphics on an increased number of substrates including dark, transparent, metallic and recycled papers.
The HP Indigo WS6600 Digital Press incorporates new, on-press, on-demand special effects so that digital embellishments, such as raised text and textured effects, can be created during the print process. Eliminating the need to spend time applying digital embellishments after printing will result in significant time savings and higher throughput. Excel Digital has also invested in Color Logic software to add a further range of options to create eye-catching labels.
Excel Digital will also utilise the HP Indigo WS6600 Digital Press to better service small to medium enterprises (SMEs) by offering the flexibility to order short print runs cost efficiently, utilising customisation where necessary.
“Eighty percent of businesses in our market are SMEs, employing fewer than 20 people and producing small batches of produce that require short print runs of packaging or labels,” said Matthews. “Their success can be driven by digital printing, and we’re proud to be able to offer the right short-run solutions to support them.”
Excel Digital started life as a small copy shop 20 years ago. Today it is a leading commercial printing company with clients from the government, education and retail sectors, in addition to its core customer base in the boutique beverage market. The company prides itself on innovative thinking, offering the services of a communications company while staying true to its roots as a print company.
On the other side of the ditch
- Bedding in the new press at Alpha Label, (from left) David Poole, Rakesh Chand and John Russell.
It's a similar story for Alpha Label in St Marys to the west of Sydney. Looking for a competitive edge and in pursuit of an expanded customer encouraged the company to break into digital print production with a HP Indigo WS6600 press as the press best suited for its needs.
According to David Poole, managing director, it is the versatility of the press that makes the difference.
"We’re always looking for a competitive edge, as well as ways to provide better service to our customer base and potential new clients, and the HP Indigo WS6600 Digital Press has given us the opportunity to offer a real point of difference,” he said. “With the machine’s unrivalled speed and efficiency, we’ve been able to produce more work at a faster rate, without compromising the quality that our customers expect.”
Mark Daws, general manager ANZ – Labels & Packaging Division, Currie Group, is chuffed with the decision. “It’s great to see another label printer expand their services into digital. The new press offers great potential for Alpha Label to increase its customer base even further by delivering high-quality work on a range of applications.”
Alpha Label prides itself on accommodating all label types, both in the longer and shorter run markets. Producing labels at up to 40 linear metres per minute in colour for a wide range of applications, the new HP press will allow Alpha Label to offer greater flexibility for its customers.
Steve Donegal, country manager, Indigo and Inkjet Digital Press Solutions echoed the encouragement. “It’s very exciting to see a successful printers such as Excel digital and Alpha Label get into digital for the first time. We’re looking forward to seeing how they will diversify their offering to provide an even greater range of labels and packaging options for its growing customer base.”