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Production Inkjet Evolution: HP Preprint Corrugated

In 2011, I began a series that looked at the then-current production inkjet vendor product offerings, and over the years continued to look at how they were being, or could be, used. In this new series, 15 years later and with drupa 2024 on the horizon, it’s time to take a look at how production inkjet has evolved, how it is used, and where we can expect it to go and grow. I will look at each of the production inkjet manufacturers and suppliers, customers and document some of their journeys. In this article I look at HP preprint corrugated.

Tuesday, May 23, 2023

(Watch David Zwang’s video interviews with HP’s Trevor Schroeder and THIMM’s Michael Weber.)

HP is a rather large company with a variety of consumer and production inkjet equipment. In the last article on Kodak, I referred to them as a pioneer in production inkjet, but HP was also a pioneer in inkjet, with their first commercial ThinkJet introduced in 1984. However, they didn’t enter the production inkjet market until they introduced the PageWide T300 at drupa 2008. That was targeted at commercial print, and we will cover that in a future article.

HP entered the preprint corrugated market with their PageWide T400S press, a 45-in. wide press that printed at up to 600 fpm in mono and color with their HDNA imaging technology. At the same time they introduced the PageWide T1100S with a printing width of 110 in., printing at 600 fpm mono and color. They created the T1100S along with Koenig & Bauer, who has a history of producing high-speed offset press transports.


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About David Zwang

David Zwang travels around the globe helping companies increase their productivity, margins and market reach. He specializes in production optimization, strategic business planning, market analysis, and related services to companies in the vertical media communications market. Clients have included printers, manufacturers, retailers, publishers, premedia and US Government agencies. He can be reached at [email protected].

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