Six months after announcing the addition of an HP T350 digital inkjet press on its production floor, Webcom announces an upgrade of the press to an HP T360 that will increase capacity of book printing by 33%. Improving the speed of short-run inkjet output has a direct correlation to capacity - at a premium during peak publishing seasons.

“An increasing number of our customers are turning to inkjet printing through our BookFWD program for its flexibility and short run cost-efficiencies,” stated Webcom President and CEO, Mike Collinge.

“We have focused intently on the phenomenal shift in favour of shorter run sizes within the publishing community,” Collinge explained. “The more that we can do to accommodate that strategy, the more publishers will gain control over the challenges they face with the rapid pace of change.”

Each installation of the two HP T300-series inkjet web presses made by Webcom has been a giant step in handling the production shifts taking place among book publishers. While other printers are facing turmoil of plant change-over with conventional presses during the busiest season, Webcom is in full operation with the latest technology. As the volume of short and medium runs continues to gain momentum, and before the next wave of high industry-wide demand pushes the limits of print capacity, Webcom will have added even more inkjet capacity to the current T350 inkjet press.

The HP T350 4-colour inkjet press, which currently reaches a speed of 600 feet per minute (fpm), will be upgraded to a T360 to increase the speed and efficiency to an impressive 800 fpm – significantly faster than the industry norm digital printing of black only text and nearing the speed and quality of offset printing. “Upgrading to an HP T360 will give us a turbo boost to manage a higher volume fluctuation of black only text during peak seasons and to achieve a wider range of improved cost efficiency for digital,” said Gabe Preczner, Webcom’s Vice President of Operations. With this investment, the upper end of cost efficient digital printing will now reach to run sizes in the range of 4,000 to 5,000.

To accommodate the higher speed and efficiency of the HP T350 installed earlier this year, the technology called for a refinement to the inks and the print heads, which brings improved print quality, wider colour gamut, and higher productivity to both T300-series presses at Webcom. A wider colour gamut enables printing of more colourful reds and blues, adds more depth to yellows, and creates warmer and more realistic browns. 

The enhancement to the colour quality applies to both coated and uncoated paper, with side benefits such as better durability as readers write on and highlight educational and reference texts.

“This technology is geared towards providing solutions for publishers which make sense on every level,” says Cris Vortisch, Webcom’s Director of Sales. “Improved capacity, enhanced quality and more viable cost efficiencies serve as the foundation of those solutions, allowing us to provide our customers with a flexible and efficient inventory management strategy unlike anything offered by a conventional printing program.”

Webcom has committed to meeting the growing demand for digital inkjet printing with continued investment in technology as efficiencies increase and costs for publishers fall. With the combined strength of cutting edge equipment, BookFWD print management program, and market-leading expertise in digital inkjet printing, they are uniquely positioned to move forward with the changing market and meet the challenges of the future.