HP unveils B2 sheetfed Indigo as part of Drupa product line-up

HP has unveiled what it claims is its “most significant step” in accelerating the migration from analogue to digital printing with the launch of a B2 sheetfed digital press, the HP Indigo 10000.

Capable of printing up to seven-colours, the Indigo 10000 is a 75x53cm press that can reach speeds of 3,450 sheets per hour in simplex production rising to 4,600 sheets an hour in Enhanced Productivity Mode (EPM). – note that HP is using the litho measurement rather than the traditional ‘pages per minute’, signalling its intention to attack the offset heartland head on.

The B2 format gives an image size that is 2.5 times larger than the existing Indigo maximum, and the machine offers a duty cycle of 2.2 million A4 pages per month.

The product team responsible for developing the fourth-generation range said more than 400 engineers had worked on presses over the past four years, and that the development of a large-size Indigo had presented a challenge as all the technology was completely new, with scaling up the laser scanning head a particular hurdle.

This is an amalgamation of excerpts from articles which first appeared in PrintWeek Daily News Bulletin 14th March 2012 and ProPrint daily newsletter of 14th March 2012.