Germark opts for Smag for digital finishing

When HP Indigo and Smag welcomed an international group of prospective customers to Barcelona, they bussed everyone off to visit two of the local label converters, writes John Penhallow. One of them was Germark, one of the biggest narrow web printers in Spain. Germark launched itself into digital label printing back in 2001, the first in Spain to do so, taking delivery in 2006 of a ws4050 from HP Indigo. Explaining his decision to go digital, CEO Iban Cid said: ‘Our customers are all asking for reduced time to market, just-in-time deliveries and of course shorter and shorter runs, and this is what digital is tailor-made to do’. 

For its finishing line Germark chose a Digital Galaxie from HP-approved partner Smag with flat bed screen printing and semi-rotary foiling, varnishing and die-cutting. Germark now uses the duo ws4050 Galaxie to offer what it calls ‘Etiqueta Express’: this special service offers customers a limited choice of labelstocks, digital printing and standardized dies, and of course super-fast delivery. ‘We still offer all our standard program,’ says Iban Cid, ‘but the 48-hour service has brought us new business and cemented our relations with our more long-standing customers. This latest investment in HP and Smag equipment is an essential part of our search for better service and profitability’.

Commenting on the Germark installation, Stphane Rateau, president of Smag said, ‘Our close cooperation with HP Indigo means that there is a seamless synergy between HP digital printing and Smag finishing equipment. Each Smag Galaxie has the advantage of being able to operate either off-line or on-line using our special connecting module. Over the years Smag has delivered more than one hundred Galaxies to customers throughout the world’. Smag Graphique is represented in Spain by Impryma BIEQ.

Pictured l-r: Stphane Rateau, president of Smag, and Iban Cid, CEO of Germark

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