Baker Labels installs second HP press in 18 months

Baker Self-Adhesive Labels Ltd has installed its second HP Indigo digital press – an HP Indigo press ws4500 – following its successful penetration of the digital labels market. The move comes just 18 months after it installed its first HP Indigo press – an HP Indigo press ws4050.

The London, UK-based printer, which has a wealth of experience in the production and fulfillment of conventionally printed labels, is responding to the increased demand for variable data labels in the security market, and customers’ needs for short-run, on-demand labels.

‘Our year-on-year turnover from August 2006 to August 2007 increased by 10 percent and digital printing was the largest contributor to this growth,’ said Steve Baker, managing director, Baker Labels. ‘We can now offer cost-effective variable data print and this has helped to broaden our solutions portfolio.’

Baker Labels currently has a large trade customer base due to its extensive range of services that other printers cannot offer. Since installing its first HP Indigo press, the company has been able to take on work from printers who do not have digital capabilities and now with its increased capacity for digital printing, this market can be expanded further.

The company has also attracted business from agencies and marketers interested in utilizing VDP for the printing of unique random numbering. This enables the end customer to promote competitions and prize draws on labels, and provides a measurable method from which to calculate response rates and return on investment.

The HP Indigo press ws4500 has a host of additional features that make it a robust and reliable production device designed for 24/7 operation on both small and medium-order-quantity work. It is capable of producing more than 500 different jobs per month, and optional third-party solutions make the press a cost-effective label and packaging solution for jobs up to approximately 2,000 meters.

Baker Labels also uses its HP Indigo digital presses for longer runs that involve complex barcoding. ‘Some of our jobs can involve so many variables, it can be more cost-effective to put longer runs through our digital press, than print conventionally,’ said Baker. ‘For example, we recently ran a 44,000 meter job that required consecutive barcoding and the only way we could complete the job in the given timeframe was on our digital presses.

‘Another job ran to 15,000 meters and just wasn’t suited to conventional production. The register was so tight it would have been very difficult to achieve the required quality, and it involved 30 variants. It is jobs such as these where our digital capacity has really made a difference, and enabled us to say yes to customers.’

Baker Labels also works with its subsidiary, Baker Materials, which is an HP center of excellence for substrate coatings. In conjunction with Baker Materials, it is testing substrates and coatings on both of its presses to continually identify and offer new substrate solutions to both its customers and other HP Indigo press users.

‘With two presses we are not only able to increase our output but to dedicate more time to testing substrates and coatings,’ said Baker. ‘Over the last 18 months, we have put more than 150 substrates with different coatings through our press, and in conjunction with HP we are further developing this aspect of our business.’