PALO ALTO, Calif. -- HP today announced that the successful first installation of the HP Inkjet Web Press at beta user O'Neil Data Systems has helped the Los Angeles-based financial and transactional print service provider enhance its business with a range of color print services.

"The O'Neil Database, Volumes I and II," a reference title that is printed each week after the close of the stock market and then hand-couriered to portfolio managers the following morning, is among the publications the company will print on the HP Inkjet Web Press. The publication identifies 2,500 of the more actively traded stocks from the prior week and serves as a single-source reference to view the stock market, by sector or industry.

Published by William O'Neil + Co., Inc., a sister company to O'Neil Data Systems, "The O'Neil Database" – previously produced almost exclusively in black-and white on toner-based digital presses – is being transitioned to a full-color periodical produced largely on the HP Inkjet Web Press. This transition to color is expected to be completed by April 10.

O'Neil Data Systems has already begun printing several smaller William O'Neil + Co. publications on the HP Inkjet Web Press.

More horsepower with HP

"Our commitment to meeting essential deadlines while offering high print quality and full-color printing is the key to this transition," said James Lucanish, president, O'Neil Data Systems. "The HP Inkjet Web Press gives us the horsepower of a 30-inch-wide digital press operating at 400 feet per minute in full color. The reliability and productivity gained with the press so soon after installing it give us the confidence to use it for products like 'The O'Neil Database,' where fast turnaround is a mission critical part of the publishing process."

The print quality available with the press, as well as the introduction of four-color process printing, represents an important upgrade for the reference publication. "The O'Neil Database" consists of two 600-plus page volumes tracking five years' worth of quarterly financial data for publicly traded firms in small type. The publication assembles information that would take hours to find through Internet stock research in a single place.

Detailed charts in the publication offer historical data that is essential for portfolio managers, but can be difficult to read in a black-and-white format. A color upgrade was previously not possible, as the firm's existing toner-based presses decrease in speed when used to print more than one color – something that would make printing the publications on Friday nights and delivering them to subscribers the following day impossible.

"We are able to print using standard, uncoated 50-lb. and 60-lb. media with the press, as well as light-weight, high-bright newsprint stock to achieve superior results," said Mark Rosson, vice president, Sales and Marketing, O'Neil Data Systems. "Normally, with the font size as small as it is in this publication, you would expect the circles in a percent sign to appear as dots on an inkjet-based production device, but the text is clear and sharp with the press, and the color makes charts much easier to read."

New revenue opportunities in transactional and health care documents

O'Neil Data Systems has also begun producing a range of transactional and health care documents for its clients on the HP Inkjet Web Press. The company prints statements and insurance benefits information that was previously restricted to monochrome digital printing because of the limited speeds and higher costs once associated with full-color production.

With the HP Inkjet Web Press enabling color, O'Neil Data Systems has new opportunities to upgrade transactional bills and statements into more valuable transpromotional printed pieces – statements and bills that also include higher-impact variable color marketing messages and images tailored to each recipient's data profile. The firm also is testing the incorporation of digital color printing into benefits package packets, a process that could potentially make the packets easier to read, saving clients money by reducing the number of calls policyholders make to call centers in search of information.

O'Neil Data Systems installed the press in December 2008 and, within four weeks, began producing saleable work on the device. The press has not only enabled a substantial upgrade to some current client work, it has enabled the company to seek out and secure new customers.

The HP Inkjet Web Press installed at O'Neil Data Systems is a beta unit – the press is scheduled to become commercially available later this year. As a participant in the press beta program, O'Neil Data Systems provides operational and marketing feedback that enables HP to further strengthen features and support offerings upon the press's commercial launch. Additional announced beta program participants for the HP Inkjet Web Press include CPI, which is Europe's leading book manufacturer, and Taylor Corp., one of North America's leading specialty print, media and marketing companies.

"O'Neil Data Systems' installation is an important first step in the commercialization of a breakthrough platform, based on a proven and stable technology, designed to offer significant value in terms of print quality, productivity and cost," said Aurelio Maruggi, vice president and general manager, HP Inkjet High-speed Production Solutions. "The progress this innovative company has made in a short time with the press is an excellent indicator of the tremendous success we anticipate customers will see when adopting this exciting new production printing technology."

HP's Aurelio Maruggi discussed the latest advancements in the commercialization of the HP Inkjet Web Press this week during an executive panel at INTER-QUEST's 2009 Digital Book Printing Forum in New York City, part of the "Publishing Business" Conference and Expo.