HP Inc. has announced significant adoption of HP Indigo’s high-volume HP Indigo 8000 digital press worldwide, with HP saying converters are choosing the solution to supply growing global market demand for flexible production of labels and shrink sleeves.

In 2019 the global market for printed labels and sleeves will be $41.0 billion, expected to grow annually by a rate of 4 percent through 2024 to $49.9 billion,1 according to Smithers Pira. Digital label production is experiencing faster growth from $12.1 billion in 2019 to $16.5 billion in 2024 in real terms, with print volume rising at 9.6% CAGR to reach 14.7 billion square metres, by 2024.
Using data-driven, cloud-enabled HP Indigo digital printing innovation, brands are getting to market faster, more efficiently and securely, while reinventing customer engagement.

“Growing demand for the HP Indigo 8000 is testament to the field-proven capability of this breakthrough solution, redefining high-quality, narrow-web digital label productivity,” said Alon Bar-Shany, general manager, HP Indigo, HP Inc. “Uniquely positioned to ignite the analog to digital transformation, the HP Indigo 8000 Digital Press is delivering over two million linear square feet per month  in narrow-web productivity to label converters using HP Indigo,” he added.

HP Indigo’s labels and packaging solutions lead the market with more than 2000 presses operating worldwide, the company says.

HP Indigo 8000 installations
New purchases by US label and packaging converters include Innovative Labeling Solutions (ILS), Dion Label Printing, Nosco, Info Label, Quality Tape and Label, and Natural State Label. Converters in Europe, Latin America and Asia are also operating the press. 

Innovative Labeling Solutions (ILS) has now added a second HP Indigo 8000 Digital Press to boost digital productivity at its site. “The productivity of the HP Indigo 8000 will help scale digital production and provide the high-quality products with fast turnarounds required by brands, also benefitting from the versatility of substrates and applications,” said Jay Dollries, President and CEO of ILS.

Imprimerie de l’Eperon of France is also growing its digital label business with the addition of an HP Indigo 8000. “We continue to push the boundaries of digital printing. When the HP Indigo 8000 came with the capability to run 80 meters a minute, immediately we understood this productivity would drive our business growth,” said Christophe Vavassori, president. “Our brand customers embrace the benefits of digital printing including personalization for unique campaigns and fast speed to market.”

Nosco, a packaging solutions provider headquartered in Illinois, is installing an HP Indigo 8000 press on its production line to boost volume for security printing using HP Indigo’s unique invisible inks. “The use of covert print enables us to help our customers combat the growing threat of product diversion,” said Craig Curran, President of Nosco.
Dion Label Printing, based in Westfield, MA, added the press to work alongside two HP Indigo WS6800 digital presses. “The increased productivity with faster print speeds on the HP Indigo 8000 makes high-quality digital output affordable for much longer print jobs. This allows our HP Indigo WS6800s to focus on quicker turnarounds or the short runs,” said Rich Butcher, production manager at Dion, printing runs of 5,000 to 60,000 linear feet.
Info Label of New York chose the HP Indigo 8000 to complement its production in HP Indigo WS6000 series presses, as it expands in the health and beauty sector and opens new markets in digitally printed shrink sleeves. “Our aim is to provide the highest quality label at the price and turnaround time required by clients,” said Jordan Sherman, director of operations, Info Label. “The HP Indigo 8000 press is designed exactly to increase production without compromising on quality, allowing us to meet and exceed our customer’s expectations.” 

The HP Indigo 8000 Digital Press prints at up to 262 linear feet (80 m/min), enabling label converters to move toward an all-digital production floor by printing any run length or any application with an HP Indigo fleet.  In this way, converters can reinvent business and move toward more sustainable digital production while benefitting from  faster turnaround times, increased SKU flexibility, and unlimited versioning.

HP Indigo ElectroInks can be used for food-packaging applications3 and are free of UV-reactive chemistries.

Operating alongside HP Indigo 6000 series presses the HP Indigo 8000 can also help streamline operations, saving on operator training, supplies management, and enabling load balancing among jobs of different run sizes. Key benefits and features include:
• High print quality. HP Indigo’s liquid electrophotography (LEP), using HP Indigo ElectroInk with minute ink particles, delivers crisp linework, attractive images and smooth vignettes with a very thin ink layer that gives uniform gloss between the ink and substrate.
• Application versatility. Support for a wide range of narrow-web applications with easy and quick changeovers, including pressure-sensitive labels and shrink sleeves using 7 ink stations. Prints on substrates from 0.5 pt. to 18 pt including off-the shelf substrates with in-line priming. HP Indigo ElectroInk Premium White delivers high opacity white in a one-pass process, opening new digital opportunities.
• Food-packaging applications: HP Indigo ElectroInks can be used in a wide range of packaging applications3 in compliance with stringent global food safety regulations, such as the Nestle guidance and the Swiss Ordinance.  HP Indigo ElectroInks are free of UV-reactive chemistries and contain no photoinitiators.
• Converting solutions. A full range of inline and offline label converting solutions includes a fast die cutting station by AB Graphics International.4
• HP PrintOS:  The cloud-based platform enables control over print operations virtually anywhere at any time, simplifies and automates print production processes, and provides a scalable architecture of production-ready tools to grow digital business. Solutions include advanced color matching tools, and automated composition of variable data jobs (including HP Mosaic and Collage) of any size.