Rosemont, Ill. – During the Labelexpo Americas trade show, Reid Graphics took another aggressive step in its ongoing analog-to-digital transition with the purchase of an HP Indigo WS6000 Digital Press, marking the first time the company will be equipped to print the majority of its work on digital presses.

When Stephen Dunlevy, owner and president of Reid Graphics, acquired the company in 1993, he had a vision to replace much of the company's analog flexography footprint with digital print solutions that can reduce waste and improve turnaround times. Dunlevy added a first-generation Indigo Omnius press in 2002 and an HP Indigo press ws4500 a few years later, decommissioning eight of Reid Graphics' 16 narrow-web flexo presses along the way.

The HP Indigo WS6000 digital press is designed to be more cost-effective than analog flexo on up to 80 percent of jobs label converters typically produce. It will allow Reid Graphics to retire three more flexo presses in addition to its older Omnius digital press. The new WS6000 model will also take the Andover, Mass. based label converter past the tipping point from analog to digital pages.

"Serving clients in today's economy requires greater flexibility and increased throughput in the number of jobs produced per shift, and the new WS6000 model will allow us to deliver more value," said Dunlevy. "We are poised for explosive growth with this new press and the completion of a 30,000 square foot addition to our manufacturing facility."

Digital's benefits have broad appeal
Reid Graphics, like many converters, has discovered that digital presses can help to expand its customer base, attracting larger clients in search of just-in-time manufacturing, as well as smaller clients needing affordable, high-quality mid-volume labels. In the 2000s, the company learned how service-oriented, quick-turnaround, fast-changeover printing drives customer acquisition when it served as a beta test fulfillment provider for the online collateral printing firm VistaPrint.

Reid Graphics used that experience to establish innovative web-to-print programs, including automated "lights out" manufacturing for key clients trained to submit completed art files that get routed directly to press queues through Reid Graphics' HP SmartStream Labels and Packaging Print Server.

"With its established momentum and expertise in digital printing, Reid Graphics has an opportunity to ignite a transformation in its business using the HP Indigo WS6000 Digital Press's high-volume capabilities," said Alon Bar-Shany, vice president and general manager, Indigo division, HP. "We were pleased to begin the 2010 Labelexpo Americas show with a sale to one of our most enthusiastic long-time customers."

High productivity and industry-exclusive color capabilities
The HP Indigo WS6000 Digital Press prints at 98 feet per minute in four-color mode, and is compatible with a broad range of media – from thinner flexible packaging substrates, to label and shrink sleeve media, to folding carton material. HP Indigo presses are the only digital label and packaging solutions that use true PANTONE-licensed spot-color inks or offer four-, six- and seven-color PANTONE-licensed spot color emulation, giving converters the ability to meet their customers' demanding brand color standards.

HP Indigo presses offer virtual elimination of make-ready and streamlined processes for changeover, allowing them to print large numbers of jobs. At Labelexpo, HP is featuring the HP Indigo WS6000 in a "Tower of Production" demonstration highlighting the number of jobs that can be printed per shift compared to conventional flexography. Working to an eight-hour production schedule each day at the show, the HP Indigo WS6000 Digital Press is printing a variety of labels on various substrates, recreating the environment at a typical converter's facility.

When making its purchase, Reid Graphics received flexible, vendor-direct financing from HP Financial Services, the company's leasing and life cycle asset management services subsidiary.