HP, KBA Debut 110" Inkjet Web Press for Corrugated

WÜRZBURG, Germany—HP Inc. and KBA jointly presented the world’s first HP PageWide Web Press T1100S on Dec. 3 and 4, 2015, to almost 200 international packaging printers and trade journalists at the KBA headquarters located here. The inkjet web press with a web width of 110 inches was developed in under two years by HP Inc. and KBA-Digital & Web Solutions in close cooperation. It opens up new opportunities in terms of the flexible production of corrugated packaging in various formats and run sizes with digital pre-print liners.

Digital printing is the fastest growing process in packaging with a projected annual growth rate of 17 percent and is expected to be worth $19 billion by 2019. Digital packaging solutions now also enable cost-effective short runs and unlock the ability to make every box different.

“Converters and brands alike need to create more targeted, effective packaging while reducing costs,” said Eric Wiesner, general manager of the PageWide Web Press (PWP) division at HP Inc. “HP Inc. and KBA have combined forces to bring the world’s most productive press to market, offering more value to high-end converters with the efficiencies of pre-print and digital in one press.”

With a web width of 110 inches and a fully flexible digital printed area in terms of format and run size of over 330,000 sq. ft./hr., the HP PageWide Web Press T1100S is being heralded as the largest and most productive inkjet web press on the global market today.

DS Smith Packaging in the U.K. is the first customer to install the HP T1100S. It delivers significantly higher productivity and production flexibility than traditional analog technology, especially when it comes to small- and mid-sized runs, and thanks to its high level of productivity it can also be implemented economically for large runs.

“We selected the new HP PageWide Web Press T1100S as the next step in our groundbreaking digital pre-print program,” said Stefano Rossi, CEO of DS Smith Packaging Division. “Our co-development with HP has resulted in the first digital machine able to print at the speed and width we need for high-volume corrugated production. It will provide our customers with unprecedented short-run flexibility and quality consistency.”

Reinventing Corrugated Printing

While current analog printing technology prints multiple copies of one box design where all of the boxes look the same and are the same size, the HP PageWide Web Press T1100S, with Multi-lane Print Architecture (MLPA), creates a paradigm shift in the production of corrugated board. Thanks to HP MLPA technology, large, small and ultra-small print runs can be produced simultaneously next to each other in different lanes on the HP T1100S’ 110˝-wide web width.

Like on a highway, HP MLPA splits the web into multiple print “lanes” during production enabling different jobs, with different box sizes and run lengths, to be printed next to each other simultaneously. Multiple ultra-short or short runs in varying formats can be queued and printed together, with no makeready or press stops in between jobs, while a long run is printed in another lane.

HP MLPA, coupled with all the advantages of digital printing, allows cost-effective customization and personalization of corrugated packaging if necessary. It meets the demands for shorter print runs without having to create inventory. Corrugated converters can now print only what is needed, when it is needed.

Fast, High-Quality Production

As more brands demand customized and personalized packaging, converters must accommodate faster turnarounds and shorter run lengths, while producing high-quality printed solutions at lower costs. Printing at speeds up to 600 ft./min. and a printed area of 330,000 sq. ft./hr., the HP PageWide Web Press T1100S helps packaging manufacturers quickly take on new, complex jobs at high speeds.

With enhanced priming options, including a combination of HP bonding agent, HP priming agent and four-color HP A50 aqueous pigmented CMYK inks, customers can print on standard uncoated and coated liners from 80-400 gsm. The inkjet web press delivers greater cost savings, versatility, productivity and quality with high color saturation, dark black optical density and crisp text. In-line and near-line coating solutions for HP priming agent and aqueous overprint varnishing also help optimize print quality.

In cooperation with KBA, HP offers a range of equipment and automation options for the T1100S. These include primer and over-print varnish coating solutions, automatic reel change, as well as the KBA PATRAS fully automated paper logistics system.

Claus Bolza-Schünemann, CEO of Koenig & Bauer AG, welcomed the international guests to the KBA site in Würzburg. He explained KBA’s strong position in the growing packaging printing market and named the alliance with HP as a “win-win situation for both sides.” PI