Amberley Labels in Blandford, Dorset, is investing more than £750,000 in digital label presses, including an HP Indigo WS6600.

This web fed press can run at up to 40 metres per minute in full colour and features an in-line priming unit (ILP), believed to be one of the first installed in the UK.

Graham Backhouse, sales and marketing director, said: ‘This is an exciting time for Amberley and its customers. The press will significantly increase our capacity and with the ILP Unit we can run the same standard, non-treated media used in conventional production on the HP Indigo press with no off-line substrate preparation. This capability both streamlines our production environment and increases our flexibility.’

The WS6600 press will run alongside the company’s existing HP Indigo WS6000 and WS4500 presses. The WS6000 press will also be retrofitted with an ILP and all presses will be upgraded to increase data handling speeds and extend the range of data they can accept. 

The WS6600 is a seven-colour press that will run the wide gamut Indichrome process to match Pantone references. The improved inking unit on the press can also apply ‘super dense’ white for use with clear films and metallic substrates.

‘The real advantage of digital printing is the elimination of process steps before jobs hit the press,’ said Mr Backhouse. ‘The move to inline coating on our two high output presses will continue this trend.’

Amberley said it’s also investing in its customer service functions and is also integrating its management information, repro and production systems in order to automate the flow of jobs. It has invested in all of these areas and recently spent £70,000 on a new MIS system, invested in AE10 digital workflow and intends to continue to develop its systems to reduce lead times.

‘We are committed to HP Indigo technology as part of a future growth strategy and our increased digital capabilities will provide the perfect cost effective solution for short to medium and multi-sort label ranges,’ said Mr Backhouse.

Contact: http://amberley.nextstepit.co.uk