Company extends advantages of digital print production to corrugated applications
HP today announced that Obaly Morava, a.s. installed the world's first HP High-speed Inkjet Corrugated Packaging Solution to digitally pre-print high-quality corrugated liners and meet demand for faster time to market.
Obaly Morava, a privately-owned corrugated board producer based in the Czech Republic, provides a broad range of corrugated products to the Czech Republic and surrounding markets, including up to nine-layer corrugated board and boxes. The forward-looking company installed the press in June, becoming the first user of the new solution, which is based on the HP T400 Simplex Color Inkjet Web Press.
"Market demands and the technology available are changing dramatically, and we are taking a fresh look at how to best meet our customers' needs, such as individualisation and differentiation from the competition," said Martin Rehorik, president, Obaly Morava. "I had a vision of what digital pre-print could potentially do for our business and reached out to HP to discuss the possibilities of its high-speed production inkjet technology for printing corrugated liners. HP helped turn that vision into a reality."
With the HP High-speed Inkjet Corrugated Packaging Solution, Obaly Morava digitally produces pre-printed corrugated top liners in back-to-back runs on the same substrate rolls for maximum efficiency. It then transfers the pre-printed rolls to its corrugator to produce corrugated board for packaging applications.
Capitalising on new digital capabilities
Adding value for new and existing customers, the HP High-speed Inkjet Corrugated Packaging Solution enables Obaly Morava to transition high-value jobs from analogue litho-lamination and flexographic processes to digital. This allows the company to take advantage of faster time to market, short and medium runs, versioning and reduced environmental footprint.
Obaly Morava is optimising its finishing processes with a Harris & Bruno International near-line coater, ideal for aqueous priming and overcoating printed substrates. The company plans to eventually move this coater inline for priming and add a second coater for inline overcoating.
"By adopting the HP High-speed Inkjet Corrugated Packaging Solution, Obaly Morava is helping usher in a digital transformation in the corrugated market," said Aurelio Maruggi, vice president and general manager, Inkjet High-speed Production Solutions Division, HP. "This innovative solution brings game-changing productivity, greater versatility, value-chain optimisation and more efficient production workflow to corrugators and represents the first of a series of production inkjet innovations from HP."
Printing on uncoated and coated corrugated substrates, premium offset media, and recycled and thin liners with speeds of up to 183 metres (600 feet) per minute, the HP High-speed Inkjet Corrugated Packaging Solution delivers faster turnaround times. The solution also includes new HP Priming Agent technology with four-colour HP A50 aqueous pigmented CMYK inks that provide exceptional print quality.
