Premium online print provider installs 7th unit, operating largest HP Indigo HD fleet in US

Smartpress, the all-digital web-to-print company specializing in premium digital printing for corporate buyers and creatives, today announced it is expanding operations with the HP Indigo 12000 HD Digital Press, installing its seventh unit.

The Minnesota-based Smartpress purchased five 29-inch sized HP Indigo 12000 HD presses in 2018 to upgrade its digital print capabilities with HP Indigo’s most advanced commercial press. A division of the Bernard group, Smartpress has now installed two additional HP Indigo 12000 HD presses to boost high-quality digital capacity. The seven-press HD fleet at Smartpress is now the largest in the US.

Since moving to the HP Indigo 12000 HD, print volume at Smartpress has grown 30%. “The full fleet is running 24 hours a day. The HP Indigo 12000 HD platform is the most versatile and robust on the market, providing significant advances in color, speed, and performance combined with versatility to produce any job of any quantity,” said Matt Hanson, CEO, Smartpress. “Thanks to the lower total cost of ownership and high print quality offered by the HP Indigo 12000 HD, Smartpress decided to standardize print operations on the solution.”

According to Smartpress, its typical job run is 200 sheets, but it can also economically prints run sizes of 800,000-sheet jobs in a single run, a volume that is typically considered suited offset. Jobs can be completed in a fraction of the time by job load balancing across multiple presses, while maintaining color consistency, according to Diego Diaz, VP Operations.

The volume growth is mostly coming from web-based orders on smartpress.com from small and medium-sized businesses, benefitting from digital versatility and quick delivery in both the US and worldwide, said Diaz. Smartpress is also enjoying growth in point of purchase graphics from retailers, increasingly turning to printed product cards in stores displays while securing the merchandise.

Advanced color capabilities on the HP Indigo 12000 HD allow Smartpress to deliver consistent color quality across the entire fleet to meet strict color consistency demanded by high-end cosmetic companies. Using HP PrintOS Color Beat, Smartpress monitors and check GRACoL® compliance in real time. 

HP Indigo 12000 HD delivering sharper print

The High Definition Imaging System for the B2-sized HP Indigo 12000 HD Digital Press doubles image resolution, providing a new quality benchmark with sharper, smoother print for HP Indigo LEP-technology based production.
“The always-on HD heads are delivering sharper, crisper and more detailed print, a prerequisite from brands,” added Diego.

Supporting the widest range of commercial print applications in the industry, the HP Indigo 12000 HD Digital Press is compatible with the industry’s widest variety of substrates, with the added capability to print sophisticated and unlimited variable data and variable imagery.