Open house success for AB Graphic and HP Digital Printing Partners

An Open House hosted by AB Graphic International at its USA location in Elgin, Illinois marked the official opening of the company’s newly completed Mid-West facility and proved a worthwhile endeavor for all participants from the industry.

151 representatives from 68 companies attended and experienced live presentations from Hewlett Packard, Avery Dennison – RFID Division, Advanced Vision Technology and A B Graphic International. Representation and support from Rotometric’s, Raflatac, Grafisk Maskinfabrik, Esko-Graphics, Sun Chemical, Kocher & Beck and Yazoo Mills reflected the importance of the event.

Topics covered RFID and related converting technology, turret rewinding, converting and 100 per cent inspection rewinding with special emphasis on digital printing and digital converting using the latest technology from Hewlett Packard and A B Graphic International’s Digicon Range.

Equipment demonstrations were well received by attendees and first hand accounts by AB Graphic International’s customers added to the openness and overall experience of the event.

Guest speakers included Paul Mulcahey from California-based Digital Dogma, who addressed important factors for successful digital converting, and Steve Hill from Daymark Food Safety Systems speaking on turret rewinders and how the Vectra range of turrets has met the company’s needs for reliable and increased productivity.

Al Spendlow, VP operations of AB Graphic International USA, said: ‘The event has so far born all the hallmarks of a truly beneficial promotion for us. Coverage of the event and increased exposure to our products during the Open House has since seen more than double the orders taken when compared to those taken over the same time period in previous years. With continued customer traffic to the new facility, we expect this trend to continue, our main concern at this moment is satisfying equipment demand, for this we owe a special thanks to all individuals and companies who made contributions to the overall success; particularly Hewlett Packard and, of course, our customers.’

Vince Pentalla of Hewlett Packard commented: ‘AB Graphic International was the first company to do road shows with us back in ’99, touring three cities in North America. This event, similar to others, was useful in leaving nothing to the imagination for converters. These venues allow converters the opportunity to see label manufacturing utilizing digital printing technology end to end – from substrate to finished labels. We want to take as many hurdles away as possible for converters investing in digital. Seeing the entire solution and having the opportunity to experience the array of partners at one site gives converters just what they need to craft their own digital strategy.’

The HP featured product solution at the event was the HP Indigo press ws4050 designed for maximum productivity and cost-efficiency. The press prints full-color labels on demand.  The combination of substrate versatility and accurate color matching enables the HP Indigo press ws4050 to complement traditional flexography operations and is suitable for a wide array of applications, from self adhesive labels to shrink sleeves and flexible packaging. As a result, digital printing is a production option as well as a means of meeting specific requirements. HP together with A B Graphic International’s converting solutions allows companies to truly broaden sales horizons.