PALO ALTO, Calif., Nov. 26, 2008 – HP today announced that Springfield Label and Tape has purchased an HP Indigo press ws4500 to pursue profitable growth with new and existing customers.

The ws4500, which is one of the world's top-selling label presses,(1) will enable Springfield Label to advance its business by offering superior quality, excellent registration, and spot-on brand color reproduction at a time when its customers are relying more on label image quality to enhance the value and competitiveness of their products.

"The HP Indigo press ws4500, with its Pantone-licensed spot color and four-, six- and seven-color emulation capabilities, empowers converters to do more for their customers by offering top-quality label, shrink sleeve and flexible packaging production," said Jan Riecher, vice president and general manager, Americas Graphics Solutions Business, HP. "The HP Indigo press ws4500 has proven to be an ideal growth engine in the industry, and Springfield Label is placing itself on the leading edge with converters looking to maximize profit opportunities with digital."

An essential solution to meet customer demand

Trends among the Springfield, Mass.-based converter's client base provided significant evidence that the HP Indigo press ws4500 was the right device to install. Springfield Label's customers increasingly need the type of versioning and multiple-SKU jobs that can wreak havoc on flexo prepress costs and push flexo press make-readies to the point where they are almost unmanageable.

Springfield Label executives saw that customers not only needed versioning, they also were submitting jobs with reversed type in smaller sizes. Jobs of that nature present a difficult production scenario, especially when the versioned run lengths are too short to cost-effectively handle the multiple make-readies and plate changes that would be needed in flexo printing.

"When you have reversed type, you risk the potential for registration problems on a flexo press," said Howard Libowitz, president, Springfield Label. "We don't have that problem with the HP Indigo press, and it is the only press technology that enables us to print those types of jobs in quantities suitable for the versioning work our customers demand. With the capabilities we now have, Springfield Label is now winning work that we would have had to turn away in the past."

The press, which was installed earlier this year, also has had a positive effect on Springfield Label's ability expand its offerings to industries that often prefer high-end labels, such as wineries, candle makers and neutraceutical firms. HP Indigo technology is the only digital press technology to offer a broader color gamut with custom-mixed spot inks and four-, six-, and seven-color process emulations. 

Designed for continuous operation, the HP Indigo press ws4500 is a robust, reliable production device that offers a fully automated workflow as well as enhanced color capabilities. Designed to be more cost-effective than flexo on label, shrink sleeve and flexible packaging jobs up to 3,500 linear feet, the HP Indigo press ws4500 virtually eliminates make-readies and offers streamlined processes for job changeover to give converters a distinct competitive advantage.