AccuLink, one of the top 100 trade print service providers (PSPs) nationwide, creates superior marketing materials using an HP Indigo press 5500 installed with a Scodix 1200 digital UV curing solution from Scodix Ltd.

The Greenville, North Carolina-based company, which also operates HP Indigo 3050 and 7000 model presses, invested in the HP Indigo 5500 to build a competitive advantage while moving production from offset to digital printing.

“The quality of HP Indigo presses is by far the highest and most consistent of any digital press on the market,” said Lindsay Gray, co-owner, AccuLink. “With such high quality and the ability for variable data printing on a digital press, we have no plans to ever buy offset equipment again. We are consciously moving offset to digital with great success and without any negative ramifications from customers.”

Tackling new applications                 

The new digital press and UV coater allow AccuLink to create premium products that help its customers achieve better marketing results than standard printed materials. Delivering an unparalleled range of enhancements for special effects, the Scodix 1200 has the capacity to produce up to 99 Gloss Units and a polymer height up to 70 microns for tangible dimension.

AccuLink recently produced a personalized, tri-fold mailer for a professional football team that was sent to 1,800 prospects encouraging rentals of skybox seats. The front features a football that appears to be autographed by the addressee. The football image also has dimples creating a pigskin texture and a raised grip. According to Gray, team officials were very happy with the 4.4 percent response rate to the mailer, which helped sell out the team’s skybox seats for next season. 

Since installing the press late last year, AccuLink has seen additional evidence of the superior quality of its new printing and coating installation: three early jobs the company produced on its new equipment have won awards.  

Simplifying workflow

Designed to produce marketing collateral, direct mail, photo merchandise products, books and manuals, the HP Indigo press 5500 is a versatile production device allowing for continuous printing with multiple feeders and stackers enabling seamless switching between jobs, proofs and media types. The added versatility gives AccuLink the ability to run a variety of applications on one press with little disruption in between jobs.

“With HP Indigo, we have so many capabilities and can complete a variety of complicated processes under one roof,” said Gray. “We might have one vanity published book followed by 1,000 personalized postcards followed by a table tent followed by a two-color management book – not many systems can be that versatile.”

AccuLink financed its new Indigo and Scodix purchases using HP Financial Services, the company’s leasing and life cycle asset management services subsidiary. By choosing HP Financial Services, AccuLink received competitive rates and flexible terms, and was able to preserve capital.

More information about HP Indigo technologies is available at www.hp.com/go/indigo, through the HP Graphic Arts YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/hpgraphicarts and through the HP Graphic Arts Twitter Feed at www.twitter.com/hpgraphicarts.