Few companies have taken the philosophy of 'inspiring collaboration' to be so central to everything they do as Belgian MIS provider CERM. At drupa 2016 its products can be seen in operation with HP Indigo digital presses for label production, including the new HP Indigo 8000 Digital Press, which is being showcased at the show.

"The new HP Indigo 8000 Digital Press represents a huge leap forward in terms of productivity in digital print," says CERM managing director Geert Van Damme. "Fortunately, we've had such a close working relationship with HP for the last seven years, sharing the common goal of enabling customers to achieve greater efficiency, that our existing software modules are already suitable for these phenomenal new printing speeds."

For more than 30 years CERM has specialised in creating MIS software to drive narrow web label presses and it has long been a leader in this field. Dutch printer Megaflex Bladel BV has been a customer for several years and will be one of the first users of the new HP Indigo 8000 Digital Press.

"The implementation of CERM software more than three years ago has allowed us to grow tremendously in terms of the number of orders we can handle, without adding staff in the customer service department," says Megaflex director Bart van Limpt. "The market we serve increasingly requires a wider variety of printed products, smaller order quantities and shorter lead times.

"To meet these demands we have to process job information quickly and print fast. That's why we initially invested in the CERM software and it's why we are investing in the HP Indigo 8000 Digital Press. The new press is already configured within our CERM software and we will not need any updates upon its installation. We have already been analysing how orders can be delivered faster in the future by switching work from conventional output to the new HP Indigo 8000."

CERM already has more than 50 label and flexible packaging customers using its software to drive HP Indigo digital presses. The high level of automation makes converting large numbers of repeat orders into production jobs straightforward, with the CERM software ensuring the most cost effective output every time by combining jobs in frames whenever possible.

After checking the production schedule and stock levels, all relevant job data, such as colors, substrates, step and repeat details, size and quantities, are sent automatically by the CERM software to the HP Indigo digital press. It is estimated that CERM software saves at least five minutes on each print-frame compared to those where data is entered manually by the HP Indigo operator. With about 100 frames per day, this is a saving equivalent to a complete shift.

"Workflow automation is critically important for label convertors' success," says Lior Krasnovsky, product manager, WW Labels and Packaging Workflow, Indigo division, HP. "We collaborate with CERM because it provides seamless integration between the MIS environment and our print server. The improved integration allows our joint customers to automate broader sets of parameters, enabling errors to be eliminated and jobs produced faster."