Great Northern Corporation (GNC), one of the largest independent producers of corrugated packaging, folding cartons and in-store displays in the U.S., has purchased the HP PageWide T400S Press. GNC will leverage this new high-speed inkjet press to produce flexible run lengths tailored to meet customer needs, provide reduced inventories, offer variable graphics and versioning, and satisfy customer lead time requirements, all with enhanced speed-to-market.  

Operating five plants across the Midwest, GNC has over 50 years of experience designing, developing and manufacturing corrugated packaging, point-of-purchase displays and folding cartons. The new HP PageWide T400S Press will be installed in the company’s StrataGraph location in Oshkosh, Wis., building on the company’s long history with digital dating back to their 2008 investment in HP Scitex equipment, along with last year’s addition of an HP Scitex 15500 Corrugated Press.

GNC chose the HP PageWide T400S Press specifically for the StrataGraph facility because the web-based platform is ideal for the plant’s conversion abilities and further advances its folding carton capabilities. The 42-inch print width, industry-leading digital imaging quality, and ability to produce variable graphics at faster turnaround times will allow the company to extend its application range, gain new efficiencies, reduce waste and set-up costs, and increase production, ultimately leading to more cost-effective and efficient production. 

“Our current folding carton offering has been limited by the number of product versions we can run, along with the setup and makeready time required. We believe high-speed digital printing will take our folding carton production to the next level, giving us improved capabilities to meet increased customer demand requests,” said Mike Schliesmann, senior vice president, GNC. “We’ve been actively investing in HP digital technology for nearly a decade, and most recently chose the HP PageWide T400S Press because there is just no other comparable solution available on the market today with its combination of web capability, format, speed and print quality. We’re looking forward to continuing our collaboration with HP to implement an integrated packaging portfolio that can match prints across various presses – both offset and digital – to encourage widespread digital acceptance and adoption by brands.”

The HP PageWide T400S Press is also able to provide “box-of-one” capabilities, featuring different content on every box as well as digital watermarks for track-and-trace capabilities and anti-counterfeit control, further adding value for GNC’s customers.