HOT Graphics Printing, a Tennessee-based offset house in business for over half a century, has launched high-volume digital color printing services with the acquisition of a 29-inch HP Indigo 12000 Digital Press.

Installed at the printer’s Memphis headquarters, the new HP Indigo is printing high volumes of direct mail, reaching higher than anticipated run sizes of 10,000 sheets.

“The industry is moving to digital. We realized now is the time to stay ahead of the curve and reinvent our business with higher quality and higher capacity digital print,” said Danny Wynne, general manager at HOT Graphics. “The large format HP Indigo 12000 ensures we can deliver any order competitively, including premium direct mail, pocket folders, and shorter runs.”

HOT is also using the HP Indigo press to improve cost efficiency versus large format UV printing for point of sale signage for the retail industry, including for static clings and posters.

According to Wynne, direct mail is enjoying an upswing in demand, and serves as the preferred method to offer special promotions for casino hotels and vacations. HOT Graphics services surrounding states including Mississippi, Alabama, Oklahoma, and Minnesota, with the biggest part of business direct mail for the casino industry.

“We are already turning around more than 20,000 postcards a day with variable data, cutting production almost in half,” said Wynne. Another benefit, he said, is cutting down on the make ready time and waste.

The 29-inch format HP Indigo 12000 Digital Press offers high-volume production speeds of up to 4,600 20 x 29-inch sheets per hour. An unmatched range of media capabilities includes synthetic, metalized and canvas using One Shot technology. Advanced color capabilities include up to 7 ink stations and special inks such as HP Indigo ElectroInk White and fluorescents.

HOT Graphics opened in 1965 as the House of Typography consisting of two Monotype machines capable of setting four lines of type per minute, and has developed into a highly sophisticated prepress, printing, binding, digital wide format, direct mail and fulfillment resource.