The German publishing company, GGP Media has invested in an HP T410 Inkjet Web Press to meet the increasing demand for short run books.
L - R Mark Malekpour of HP, Uwe Schulz GGP Media, Christof Ludwig GGP Media and Wolfgang Kochan of HP
The installation of the press is scheduled for this month at the company's facility in Oppurg, near its main Pössneck operation and marks GGP Media’s first step into high-volume digital printing. It will complement the existing 14 conventional web presses and five sheet-fed presses that currently print some 225 million hard-cover and paperback books each year.
Uwe Schulz, production/technology manager, GGP Media said:
"Our main reasons for moving to digital production now include the growing demands for short-run jobs as well as all the advantages that the new press brings to our company, such as increasing flexibility and cost-efficiency. The book printing industry has undergone some changes in the last years, and we can see a trend to digitally printed products. Nowadays, end users are more impulsive in their decisions about which book to buy, and high-number production runs are decreasing.”
GGP Media said that already a large number of its orders are runs under 3000 copies which are simply not economical for the business. The new investment is designed to address this difficulty and will allow the company to satisfy special customer needs. An added bonus is that the need to store stock will be greatly reduced.
Schulz added:
"We decided to invest in the HP Web Press because we are sure that our company will benefit from the press's short set-up times and the fast coordination between jobs. It will make us more flexible which in turn means that we will be able to offer our clients a much better service."
Part of the Bertelsmann Group, GGP Media employs 1000 people and has more than 100 years of production experience. The HP T410, which has a production speed up to 244 m/min (800ft/min) and up to 1060.45 mm (41.75in) print width, will be used for the production of paperback and hardcover books with run lengths up to 3000 copies.
Schulz noted that it was extremely important for GGP Media to maintain its high performance in quality and delivery time and to ensure that existing substrates can be used on the HP T410 as well as on other machines. The press can print on a wide range of media, enabling it to match the specifications of longer run books produced on conventional presses. HP recently announced the availability of coated papers from ColorPRO Technology for its inkjet presses, further expanding opportunities for publication printers.
"We aim to invest in other HP technology in the near future, as we are planning to replace some of our existing web presses and sheet-fed presses to focus more on the digital side of the business," Schultz concluded.
More information is available at www.youtube.com/hpgraphicarts
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