HP Inc. has announced that ePac Flexible Packaging, the all-HP Indigo digital flexible packaging company, is purchasing 20 HP Indigo 20000 digital presses to expand its business strategically throughout the US.

The largest deal to date for the HP Graphics packaging business, the new ePac order is estimated to be worth over $100 million, including hardware, supplies and services.

“ePac’s rapid success using HP Indigo is proof positive that the market is ripe for digital transformation,” said Enrique Lores, President, Imaging, Printing and Solutions, HP Inc. “In two years, ePac has become a force in digital flexible packaging with HP Indigo at the center of its visionary business model. We look forward to building on this momentum as more companies like ePac unleash the versatility and power of HP digital print.”

ePac experiencing triple-digit growth
ePac is currently enjoying triple-digit growth by delivering high-quality packaging with fast turnaround to benefit brands, especially its main customer base of SMBs. The 20 new HP Indigo 20000 presses are scheduled to be installed at sites throughout the US by 2020, as it expands its business model to 15 locations.

Four ePac sites are currently operating eight HP Indigo 20000 presses. This third wave of presses will bring the installed base to 28 units to support increasing customer demand and serve new locations, including the recently announced Boston and Austin sites, joining Madison, Chicago, Miami, and Boulder.

Founded in May 2016 as a Greenfield business, ePac Flexible Packaging is the first North American all-digital, all Indigo full service, printer/converter providing economical short and medium run length jobs, to brands of all sizes, with rapid time to market and true high definition quality graphics. ePac is a full service converter, offering a range of end-to-end solutions including HP Indigo Pack Ready Lamination, eBeam curing, and pouch-making lines.

“ePac’s collaboration with HP Indigo is a huge success and we believe this can easily turn into a billion dollar business,” said Jack Knott, CEO, ePac Flexible Packaging, at Pack Expo 2018 in Chicago, where the deal with HP was signed on Tuesday. “Thanks to HP Indigo digital printing and our unique business model, our customers are benefitting from an improved experience, including completing orders within 10 business days – compared with six to 12 weeks for conventional printing – as well as reduced environmental impact and on-demand customization.”

ePac is experiencing strong demand from many market segments, including the rapidly growing natural/organic food and sports nutrition markets, added Carl Joachim, ePac CMO. SMBs benefit from quick time to market and ordering to demand, while larger brands are ordering medium-run length multi-SKU orders, and variable data/imagery for innovative marketing campaigns, he said.

Momentum for HP Indigo 20000 Digital Press
The HP digital disruption now gaining a foothold in the packaging arena can be evidenced by more than 160 HP Indigo 20000 digital presses already sold to converters around the world, up from 100 a year ago.

The 30 inch (76 cm) HP Indigo 20000 can print virtually any sized flexible packaging application with unlimited variation and support demand for growing SKUs, alongside benefits of reduced waste from minimal setup and production of only the quantities needed. The solution provides converters the freedom to produce nearly any flexible packaging application, in addition to labels, and shrink sleeves on film or paper – all with the proven quality to help meet strict brand requirements.

The HP Indigo 20000 is connected to HP PrintOS, allowing PSPs to monitor the press performance in real time anywhere and anytime, and thus continuously optimize operations. Powerful apps running on the cloud-based PrintOS platform offer advanced capabilities that simplify and automate the print operations. In addition, by connecting their brands directly to PrintOS, PSPs can efficiently produce large volumes and be part of a global print network.

The HP flexible packaging ecosystem has grown to include end-to-end solutions including HP Indigo Pack Ready Lamination for immediate time-to-market with high-performance laminates. The system consists of the Pack Ready Laminator, supplied by Karlville, and Pack Ready Film.