4 questions about our new digital press

Last month, we purchased an HP Indigo 5600 digital press, often called the Indigo family’s most stable and productive print engine because of its strong history in the field.

We’re excited about the investment, and wanted to tell you more about what you can expect from this new machine. One of Oregon’s writers (Mary Dixon) sat down with Oregon president Judd Plattenburg to learn more.

What made you start thinking about purchasing a new digital printer?

Most of the digital presses out there are dry toner-based printers. That means they adhere dry toner to paper with a fusing process using heat. They also require a lot of maintenance. So it’s a pretty normal practice to replace those printers every 3 to 4 years, and that’s why it makes sense to lease them. The lease on our current digital printer was up soon, and it was really time to make a solid equipment investment from a tax standpoint.

On top of that, we felt that we were really ready to change the game. We knew our future was solidly digital and wanted something on a higher level, both in terms of quality and productivity, than the standard toner-based digital printer. The timing just seemed right.

How have changes in the kinds of work Oregon is doing changed your machine needs?

Things have changed since the days when we were printing only straightforward, static jobs. In so much of what we do now, each sheet needs a personalized touch. So we needed a press that was not only digital, to allow for personalization—but also one that would produce consistent, perfect sheets at a high levels of productivity.

What can you do with the Indigo that you couldn’t do before?

Consistency and higher production rates, first of all. The Indigo is not a traditional dry toner machine, but a hybrid of an offset and a digital press. Because of that, it is very color consistent and does not require the maintenance that dry toner machines require, plus part of the HP training program teaches our operators to do our own maintenance which means more up-time.

Secondly, it will print on more substrates than traditional toner machines: think plastics, window clings, magnets, even heat transfer material that can be applied to t-shirts.

So why should customers care about this? Will it make their print pieces nicer-looking? Cheaper? Faster?

Yes, yes, and yes. Because of the Indigo’s high productivity level and it’s offset image quality, it will actually replace 2 or 3 aging machines and leave room for us to take on more work.

Check back soon to learn more about the Indigo’s features and how it will change Oregon’s print workflow. If you have any questions about the machine (or want to see her for yourself!) get in touch anytime.