Exclusive to WhatTheyThink
AURORA, CO—Today, Frederic Printing will officially introduce its new HP Inkjet Web Press, the second of just two in commercial operation. The press, installed last month, has been in live production for about a week. Its purchase was announced by HP in May during an open house at the first printing company to install an HP Inkjet Web Press, O’Neil Data Systems of Los Angeles, CA.
Attending the ribbon-cutting ceremony will be local elected officials and customers of Frederic Printing and of its parent company, Consolidated Graphics. All will see the 30" wide digital press printing book forms and other items in full color at 400 fpm.
At a reception in the plant last night, Chris Greene, president of Frederic Printing, called the installation a technical milestone in the company's 132-year history. Ric Davis, executive vice president of operations for Consolidated Graphics, said that Consolidated saw the HP Inkjet Web Press as "a disruptive technology that will change the marketplace."
Jan Riecher, vice president and general manager of HP's graphics solutions business in the Americas, said that the installation signaled HP's readiness to seek “bigger opportunities” in high-volume production with scalable inkjet technology.
Designed for high-volume production of direct mail, books, newspapers, and transactional documents, the variable-cutoff HP Inkjet Web Press is a roll-to-roll, thermal inkjet printing system with a claimed duty cycle of up to 70 million copies per month. It prints at a resolution of 1,200 x 600 dpi in CMYK plus a bonding agent.
It was installed at Frederic Printing along with an HP-designed finishing line consisting of a sheeter, folder, stacker, and bander. HP also supplied the digital front end and installed a fiber optic link between the press and the plant's MIS.
The HP Inkjet Web Press was launched at drupa 2008, where it was shown in a 36" version. HP says that the third and fourth installations are scheduled to be completed at two book manufacturers—Courier Corporation in North Chelmsford, MA, and CPI Group in France—by the end of 2009.
More coverage of the installation at Frederic Printing, including video interviews, will appear at WhatTheyThink.
Discussion
By Michael J on Aug 20, 2009
Very, very cool. Any information about the TCO net of the capital costs? I don't know if the market will wait for the Kodak Prosper, but I'm curious.
Based on back of the envelope calculations based on Kodak's numbers, it looks like a 24 page black and white tabloid newspaper could be sold at a 75% margin for 20 cents a copy.
I'm particularly interested because at that price point, with the addition of smart QR codes, the path to reinvent professional development for teachers in bottom of the pyramid high schools is pretty clear.
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