HP has unveiled its latest digital press, the 200K, a roll-fed liquid toner press that is designed to print to flexible packaging. It is a B2 machine that will take media up to 760mm in width.
Essentially, HP has taken the existing fourth generation 25K flexible packaging press and upgraded it to the fifth generation spec that was introduced in March 2020 with the 100K commercial print machine. So that means a new writing head that has lead to a 30 percent increase in printing speed though with the same 812 dpi at 8-bit resolution as before. As with the 100K, HP has improved the media handling with improved constant web tension and a new web threading system. There’s a new dryer with low energy consumption, a new temperature balance system and a new corona treatment that should offer better serviceability.
As with the 100K, the new 200K only appears to have room for five colours – CMYK plus white – though HP has not disclosed the colour gamut or the productivity when printing with white. Nonehteless, fewer colours should mean faster print speeds and lower click charges. It can run at up to 42mpm in CMYK and up 56mpm in the enhanced productivity mode, which is just cyan, magenta and yellow.
It takes media from 10 to 400 microns, which is the same as the 25K, with HP starting that it can print both surface and reverse on most industrial substrates using inline priming. The liquid toner is said to be compliant with food packaging regulations and is also compostable under certain conditions.
Noam Zilbershtain, VP and General manager of HP Indigo and Scitex, commented: “The HP Indigo 200K is a mid-web digital press especially designed for converters addressing the needs of brands in flexible packaging, but it also serves the growing requirements of the label and shrink sleeve industries for higher productivity and wider format.”
The Sirane group, based in the UK, will be one of the first beta sites for the 200K. Peter Ralten, Commercial and Business Development Director said: “At Sirane, we have been looking into digital print for a while now, realizing it is where the future lies. The HP Indigo 200K digital press, with its incredible increase in productivity, opens new business opportunities for us. With the unmatched HP Indigo quality and versatility, we can’t wait to see the results of adding it to our portfolio.”
Naturally the new press comes with the proven Indigo DFE and PrintOS, which includes full variable data capability as well as HP’s Mosaic and Collage design features and is ready for e-commerce.
Zilbershtain added: “Flexible Packaging is a growing market, and as HP Indigo customers are growing much faster than the market, I have no doubt that the HP Indigo 200K digital press will open the door for more flexo converters who want to join the success, and reign in industry 4.0.”
HP does labour the point that its Indigo presses are the only proven digital technology for printing to B2-sized flexible films, and HP does certainly have most of this market at the moment. But it’s worth bearing in mind that there are a number of inkjet presses that have been designed to print to flexible films and that are just coming into service now. So the digital flexible film market is likely to go through some considerable upheaval over the next five to ten years. If HP is to continue to dominate this market then it will need to demonstrate that its Indigo presses can handle medium volume run lengths cost effectively.
In the meantime it seems reasonable to assume that HP will introduce a 300K model at some point, bringing the fifth generation print engine to the folding carton market, which is currently served by the Indigo 35K.
There’s no word yet on when the Indigo 200K will be available. However you can find further details on the Indigo range from hp.com, though the 200K is not yet listed.
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