PALO ALTO, Calif., February 25, 2008 - HP today announced that flexographic printing firm Pamco Label Co., Inc, Des Plaines, Ill., is driving new profit opportunities with an HP Indigo press ws4500. Because of the streamlined production capabilities possible with the press, the company has added a number of clients in the health and beauty, food and beverage, vitamin and nutraceutical and general retail markets, including new customers in the private label industry. The HP Indigo press ws4500 is one of the only production platforms capable of offering high-quality multiple-SKU jobs in quantities where costs for multiple flexographic plate changes prove to be too expensive.

"The highly productive HP Indigo press ws4500 has a unique ability to integrate with and enhance existing flexographic converting environments," said Rich Raimondi, vice president and general manager, U.S. Graphic Arts Organization, HP. "The combination of HP's digital printing solutions and Pamco's skill set provides the opportunity for Pamco to exceed its customers' expectations, especially in the private label industry, where Pamco can offer its customers even more options and flexibility in taking products to market.

The seven-color digital press provides superior quality and is designed for maximum efficiency in an end-to-end high-volume production environment.  A digital front end from EskoArtwork handles the prepress workflow for the press and integrates with the prepress solutions used to drive the firm's 18 flexographic presses.

The digital advantage in entering new markets

Because it is very cost-competitive on production of labels in runs up to 6,500 linear feet, the HP Indigo press ws4500 is often the smartest production option on a number of jobs typically produced on flexographic presses. By creating a new balance of work distribution between analog and digital equipment, converters like Pamco maximize profitability throughout their plant by freeing up flexographic press capacity for the production of longer-run jobs.

There is also a distinct market for converters to gain new customers and added business based on digital's benefits. Pamco's management recognized that private label manufacturers – companies that create specific products and sell them to a variety of retailers under different brand names – can improve their own manufacturing efficiencies and profit potential with short- and medium-run labels that enable them to offer a greater variety of branded products.

"Because of the opportunities we are obtaining by offering digital production, we will easily surpass our first-year projections for the HP Indigo press," said Danny Fishbein, vice president of sales and marketing, Pamco. "The demand for this type of offering is significant: When we exhibited at a recent trade show for private-label manufacturers, 90 percent of the people we spoke with were primarily interested in what we could do for them because of our digital press." 

Designed for continuous operation, the HP Indigo press ws4500 is a robust, reliable production device that offers a fully automated workflow as well as enhanced color capabilities. The press is part of a complete HP Graphic Arts portfolio that delivers digital printing platforms designed to increase print speeds and lower the cost of printing for high-volume applications.  The press' six- and seven- color process color matching capabilities, and its unprecedented capability to print with and switch spot colors between jobs with virtually no downtime, give converters a distinct competitive advantage.