Digital Press Fuels Expansion Programme

The HP Indigo press 5000 is propelling Proco in to the next phase of commercial digital printing.

The HP Indigo press 5000 is propelling Proco in to the next phase of commercial digital printing.

The installation is part of the company's current expansion programme and will enable Proco, formerly known as The Production Company, to provide what it believes will be the most advanced digital printing service available.

Part of a new breed of print service providers, Proco offers customers database handling, digital printing and fulfilment said HP.

Head of digital services at Proco, Jon Bailey said: "We have identified digital as a significant growth opportunity for the business and it will play a central role in our three-year strategy of change.

One of our core business objectives is to expand our product offering and the new press will facilitate that.

We were the only UK printer to beta test the new HP Indigo press 5000 and we believe that reflects our status as a progressive printer with unique expertise in the digital printing market.

We were impressed with the 5000 from day one and the trial process ran so smoothly it was more like an installation than a beta test." The HP Indigo press 5000 incorporates the latest patented technology from HP with features from existing HP Indigo presses.

HP believes that the new press marks a pivotal development in digital printing technology, fulfilling the needs of both medium and large sized commercial printers and delivering a concept that reduces the cost of digital publishing and long and short-run personalised printing.

The press prints a claimed 4,000 full-colour A4 impressions per hour.

New paper handling features ensure efficient operation and reliability to minimise waste and manual handling time.

The paper input system provides an increased capacity and offers paper loading with no necessary friction or air adjustments, even when switching to different media said HP.

Bailey said: "Essentially, the new press retains the high quality digital printing that previous HP Indigo presses were so renowned for, with the additional benefits of increased speed and ease of operation.

Those are critical attributes for our current blue chip clients including BMW, McCann Erickson and Alliance and Leicester.

We have found the new press saves us on average up to two hours per daily shift.

The impressive up-time has a vast impact on productivity, which will be the major benefit to our business and our customers.

Digital printing has been instrumental in transforming the direct marketing industry, elevating it to a greater level of sophistication by channelling fully personalised corporate messaging directly to the relevant customer.

Investing in the new press will enable us to offer larger personalised runs cost-effectively.

That is an attractive proposition, particularly for national corporate clients- a key target for new business." HP added that the success of Proco lies in its expertise spanning the full spectrum of print production services from litho and digital printing, to database management and fulfilment.

The next phase of the company's development programme is to consolidate the three strands of the business under one roof.

The new premises, which the company will move to in April, will house the direct mail division as well as the litho and digital printing plants.

"The new press is part of that integration process, enabling work from our direct mail division to migrate to digital, thanks to the greater print-run capability of the 5000.

We believe the changes will position Proco as an industry leader, offering the most advanced, integrated print communications service available," said Bailey.

Paul Randall, UK marketing manager for HP digital publishing solutions said: "Proco has been highly pro-active throughout the beta test and we are confident that the press is now ready for the market as the press commercial printers have long awaited.

We believe, that with its combined high productivity and print-quality, the press will deliver the best solution to embrace the higher volume market in short-run, on-demand personalisation.".

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