Super inkjet packaging press from HP & KBA

The two companies will develop a high-speed, high-volume, 110-inch -wide (2.8 meter) simplex inkjet web press for pre-printing of corrugated top liner. Called the HP T1100 Simplex Color Inkjet Web Press it will enable corrugators to combine jobs on a roll for short, mid or long runs.

Planned to print at speeds of up to 600 feet (183 meters) per minute and produce up to 300,000 square feet (30,000 square meters) per hour, the press will print corrugated liner rolls that can then be placed directly onto existing industry-standard 110 inch-wide (2.5 or 2.8 meter) corrugators.  This is the first solution co-developed by the two companies since they announced a strategic collaboration at Graph Expo 2014 in Chicago last year.

According to Aurelio Maruggi, vice president and general manager, Inkjet High-speed Production Solutions, HP, there is an enormous digital opportunity in the corrugated market for best-in-class technology innovation. “The new press will transform the short and mid-range corrugated packaging market, dramatically disrupting operating models and costs and more importantly create new value for brand customers,” he said.

The two companies are a formidable combination. This year, HP celebrates its 76th anniversary and its 31st year of thermal inkjet innovation. KBA is a 197-year-old company and the second-largest offset press manufacturer worldwide.

“KBA has a rich heritage of developing innovative solutions that meet or exceed customers’ quality expectations,” said Christoph Müller, executive vice president for the Web Press Product House, KBA. “In working with HP, we will combine our complementary technological strengths for the needs of packaging converters.”

At drupa 2008, HP announced its first Inkjet web press. Since then, the company has expanded its portfolio to its current lineup of ten presses across five web-width platforms transforming the publishing and production mail market.