Tags: HP Latex Ink Technology / HP Scitex

Challenge

• Expand business into lucrative high image quality outdoor and indoor signage market
• Obtain production printing speeds while maintaining outstanding image quality
• Price printed products competitively through lower production costs
• Ability to print on a broad range of media, from vinyl to low-cost polyester⁽⁶⁾
• Simple workflow to speed up delivery and keep costs down

Solutions

• HP Scitex LX800 Printer
• HP Latex Inks
• Original HP printing materials including HP Photo-realistic Poster Paper (recyclable through commonly available recycling programmes)

Results

• Winning international customers looking to maximise market reach on tight budgets
• Customers are recognising high image quality offered at competitive costs
• Achieving production capacity and application versatility that delivers for regular, broad-ranging printed campaigns

Businesses worldwide have been adopting aggressive strategies to increase their profit margins and grow their market share despite the recent economic downturn. As a result, time to market has become shorter and shorter, budgets are extremely tight so cost and time savings are made wherever possible. Print buyers reflect the wider market conditions and continue to demand many different products, in shorter time, and with reduced budgets, even as the economic outlook brightens.

Benefits to the bottom line

Verdúdigital is a highly successful, full service printing business based outside Barcelona in Spain. They reacted rapidly to deteriorating market conditions by expanding into the higher quality signage market, a new segment for their business. They utilised the HP Scitex LX800 Printer that features HP Latex Inks to print a host of outdoor and indoor applications.

Customers are recognising high image quality offered at competitive costs

Vicente Verdu, Sales Manager at Verdúdigital describes the business approach they adopted. “In a deteriorating market it may seem counter-intuitive to acquire new equipment but the benefits to the bottom line have far outweighed the investment,” says Vicente, adding, “We have made new customers by achieving outstanding image quality while satisfying customer needs to cut costs. We use recyclable HP Photo-realistic Poster Paper for high quality images. We can print directly on economical polyester fabrics and our estimated average HP Latex Ink consumption is 1800m² (5905ft²) per set of inks as compared to 800 –1000m² (2625 – 3281ft²) using our other, slower printers, on a like-for-like basis. We can now handle the print demands of larger and larger companies on a national and worldwide basis.”

For a world-renowned Scandinavian furniture brand, Verdúdigital has been exploiting the HP PVCfree Wall Paper that, together with HP Latex Inks, provides odourless⁽²⁾ interior wall decorations that meet GREENGUARD criteria for low emitting products⁽⁴⁾ and AgBB criteria for health-related evaluation of VOC emissions of indoor building products.⁽⁵⁾

In addition, by using HP Latex Inks Verdúdigital does not require special ventilation equipment⁽¹⁾ or an external dryer and the company can attract environmentally conscious customers because of the printer’s ability to produce odour-free⁽²⁾ prints and the availability of a range of recyclable HP printing materials⁽³⁾, many of which can be returned to HP for free and convenient recycling.

Productivity that wins worldwide business

One of their latest business successes has seen Verdúdigital printing worldwide campaigns for an international jeans brand. Vicente describes the scope of the job. “The HP Scitex LX800 Printer produces posters, billboards, point of purchase displays, interior decoration and facades. We print them, mount them, pack them and ship them worldwide. For the latest campaign we printed 1200m² (3937ft²) in 10 days, including mounting. The printer is extremely quick and the productivity features add to the overall fast turnaround. The dual roll means we can load two 1374mm (54in) rolls and print on both side by side, at the same time,” states Vicente. Roll-to-free fall and roll-to-collector capabilities let you print and finish simultaneously.

Edging out competition with unbeatable Combination

Verdúdigital possesses a broad range of printing technology but Vicente believes that the high image quality, production print speeds and the workflow productivity offered by the HP Scitex LX800 Printer are an unbeatable combination. Recently a multinational company that owns a number of famous fashion labels and cosmetics brands invited Verdúdigital to present an offer for its worldwide printed signage campaigns.

Vicente explains how the HP Scitex LX800 Printer is allowing them to undercut the competition. “Their previous supplier was using chemical processes to create the images. Image quality was extremely high, but so were the costs… and delivery times were drawn out. I was convinced that the HP Scitex LX800 Printer could give us an edge by achieving a high image quality that would satisfy customer needs while delivering jobs at greater speeds and lower production costs. We ran some tests and the client was very impressed with image quality… and even more impressed with the cost savings. Prior to the HP Scitex LX800 Printer we wouldn’t have been able to compete,” states Vicente delightedly.

Today Verdúdigital exploits the HP Scitex LX800 Printer to print all the applications they possibly can. “Once you have used the printer in your business, you realise that you could never survive without it again,” Vicente concludes.

⁽¹⁾ Special ventilation is not required to meet US OSHA requirements on occupational exposure to VOCs from HP Latex Inks. Special ventilation equipment installation is at the discretion of the customer—no specific HP recommendation is intended. Customers should consult state and local requirements and regulations.

⁽²⁾ Printers using HP Latex Inks use internal heaters to dry and cure the latex polymer film. Some substrates may have inherent odour.

⁽³⁾ HP offers the HP Large-format Media take-back program in the U.S., Europe, and Canada (as of June 1, 2010) through which most HP recyclable signage media can be returned, availability varies. Some recyclable papers can be recycled through commonly available recycling programs. For details visit www.hp.com/recycle. Aside from this program, recycling opportunities for these products are currently only available in limited areas. Customers should consult local recycling resources for recycling these products.

⁽⁴⁾ HP PVC-free Wall Paper printed using HP Latex Inks is listed in the GREENGUARD product listing for low emitting products and is tested to the GREENGUARD standards. The print is not GREENGUARD Certified. The GREENGUARD Environmental Institute is an American National Standards Institute (ANSI) authorized standards developer that establishes acceptable indoor air standards for indoor products, environments, and buildings. See www.greenguard.org.

⁽⁵⁾ The Committee for Health-related Evaluation of Building Products, AgBB, establishes the fundamentals for a uniform and reproducible health-related evaluation of building products in Germany, including criteria for testing and an evaluation scheme for health-related evaluation of VOC emissions from building products used for application indoors.

⁽⁶⁾ For best results, print textile applications on polyester fabric that does not stretch. Performance may vary depending on media. Please consult your media supplier for compatibility details.

Customers are recognising high image quality offered at competitive costs

The HP Scitex LX800 Printer produces posters, billboards, point of purchase displays, interior decoration and facades

About HP

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