HP Inkjet Web Press Exceeds 60 Systems Installed

"As we continue to expand our services to book publishers, which are transitioning analog pages to digital pages, the installation of our second T350 will help our customers to continue their pursuit of short-run, on-demand book manufacturing," said Adi Chinai, managing director, King Printing. "With our inkjet web press capacity, we are able to offer better time-to-market solutions that are progressive and profitable for our customers."

HP also has continued to expand its business in the Asia-Pacific and Japan (APJ) region, which represents a significant growth opportunity.

Tokyo-based Kodansha Ltd—Japan's leading manga, book and magazine publisher—has signed a sales agreement for an HP T300 Color Inkjet Web Press. Kodansha is the first company in Japan to buy an HP Inkjet Web Press. It also is the first publishing company to purchase this technology—a sign of the important role Kodansha sees for digital printing in the publishing value chain.

One of Kodansha's key bookbinding suppliers will install and operate the publishing company's new press alongside a newly installed SigmaLine bindery system from Swiss finishing equipment manufacturer Muller Martini.

"We feel very pleased and excited to adopt and introduce an advanced book productionsystem consisting of the HP T300 Color Inkjet Web Press and the Muller Martini SigmaLine to lead Japan's publishing industry," said Kenjiro Umezaki, leader of Kodansha's Operations division. "The main and decisive reasons Kodansha chose HP's inkjet digital web press are HP's high-level inkjet technology and the record of good performance seen with HP web presses in many past installations.

"By introducing this latest book production system," Umezaki added, "Kodansha will be able to produce required volumes for many kinds of books with quick delivery. We also believe Kodansha will be able to reduce production and storage costs while fully meeting readers' diverse needs."

HP recentlycompleted the APJ region's first HP T400 installation, at Kingsgrove, Australia-based McPherson's. And, upcoming installations in the region include HP Color Inkjet Web Presses to be installed at Sinjin in South Korea, and at Hucais Group, Dongguan, China.