Palo Alto, Calif. – HP today announced that Dion Label has expanded its digital printing capacity with an HP Indigo WS6000 Digital Press to support continued growth of its label and packaging converting business.

Dion Label selected the WS6000 to accommodate the company's growing demand for the features that HP Indigo technology and its complementary HP SmartStream Labels and Packaging workflow solutions deliver: fast turnaround, high quality and streamlined, multiple-SKU production.

Dion Label purchased the new press at the Digital Solutions Cooperative's annual Dscoop conference in February. According to Dion Label's management team of John Dion and Randy Duhaime, the HP user group conference served as the perfect networking venue to move Dion Label's Westfield, Mass.-based converting business ahead. Over the course of the two-day conference, Dion and Duhaime arranged to sell of one of its two HP Indigo press ws4050s to another label and packaging converter and finalized the purchase of the HP Indigo WS6000 Digital Press.

Installed in early March, Dion Label's new press runs alongside the firm's remaining HP Indigo press ws4050. Both presses use a suite of HP SmartStream Labels and Packaging workflow solutions developed by leading converting prepress technology firm EskoArtwork.

"Customers who attend the Dscoop conference know it is one of the most important events for graphic arts professionals seeking new solutions for profitable growth," said Jan Riecher, vice president and general manager, Graphics Solutions Business – Americas, HP. "Networking opportunities can be at least as valuable as the conference's expert training and technology displays. In this case, the Dscoop experience allowed two progressive converters to connect and quickly find the digital solutions they needed to take their firms to the next level." 

Expansion into new markets with the HP Indigo WS6000's large media range
Dion Label's new press offers high productivity with its four-color printing speed of 98 linear feet per minute. The HP Indigo WS6000 Press's ability to print on both thick and thin substrates – from the lightweight media used in flexible packaging to the tag stocks used in folding cartons – will assist in Dion Label's expansion into new markets and encourage business from new and existing customers.

"Short run, multiple SKUs, repeatable high-quality printing and the ability for variable data has helped to maintain our steady growth," said Randy Duhaime, vice president, Dion Label. "The purchase of the HP Indigo WS6000 will allow us to continue this trend with longer run lengths transitioning from our conventional flexographic printing department to our digital department. WS6000 enhancements, such as its large repeat length and its ability to print on substrates from 12 microns to 450 microns, will open additional opportunities."

The new HP Indigo WS6000 Digital Press is more cost-effective than analog flexographic or offset production for jobs up to 13,000 linear feet, a figure that represents approximately 80 percent of the jobs label converters produce. With more than 70 installations worldwide since the product's introduction in March 2009, the HP Indigo WS6000's success demonstrates the increasing migration of work from flexographic to digital printing.

Prepress workflow solutions for better color management and quality
The press's digital front-end solution, the HP SmartStream Labels and Packaging Print Server, powered by EskoArtwork, helps converters establish PDF 1.6 workflows and maximize HP Indigo presses' advanced productivity and quality. Features include: Pantone-certified conversion tables for four-, six-, and seven-color printing; "double hit" separations for more effective use of white ink; and options for high-definition or standard screening.

Dion Label's HP SmartStream Labels and Packaging Color Kit is a high-end color management solution for cost-effectively and quickly matching Pantone colors, flexo, offset or other print outputs. The kit, which incorporates EskoArtwork's Kaleidoscope software, automatically converts incoming jobs to the appropriate color space based on the specific ink colors installed on the press. The tool also creates spectral profiles of special colors and stores them in a database for consistent, repeatable quality.