Stora to work with HP on new digital printing line

Stora Enso and HP Indigo are to work together on a new digital package printing solution for the consumer paperboard packaging market.
 
The system will see an HP Indigo 30000 digital press offered with a Stora Enso Lakka B2 coater.
 
The HP Indigo 30000 digital press (pictured, right) is a 750mm-wide sheet-fed press designed specifically to print paperboard packaging, It is scheduled for commercial availability in late 2013. It can print on any board up to 600 microns thick and offers breakthrough capabilities in digital package printing, accommodating almost all box, sleeve and blister applications.
 
An additional advantage of HP Indigo technology crucial for package printing is the use of seven color stations, interchangeable between 4-, 5-, 6- and 7-color process inks, white ink, special inks and spot inks. This allows accurate reproduction of most of the Pantone gamut and official brand colours. HP Indigo presses also print on metallised boards, which is crucial for packages of premium products, such as luxury beverages and perfumes.
 
The Stora Enso Lakka coater (pictured, left) will maximise the productivity of the process and will offer a modular approach for customers to meet the requirements of various application areas. The coater will process B2 sized sheets and use aqueous or UV coating for high-quality folding cartons from 180 to 500g/sq m. It will be available as a module of the integrated production line or as a stand-alone system in late 2013.
 
Stora Enso said the integrated production line with the new 750mm-wide digital press and in-line coating unit modules will offer a digital solution to folding-carton converters, which fits naturally into their current production environments, with a printed and coated output similar to a packaging offset press.
 
Stora Enso expects to begin shipping first beta units of the new coater in-line with the HP Indigo 30000 by summer 2013.
 
Read more on HP Indigo here
Read more on Stora Enso here
Read more on digital printing here