Reid Graphics Crosses the Digital Tipping Point with HP Indigo WS6000 Press

ROSEMONT, IL—Sept. 15, 2010—During the Labelexpo Americas trade show, Reid Graphics took another aggressive step in its ongoing analog-to-digital transition with the purchase of an HP Indigo WS6000 Digital Press, marking the first time the company will be equipped to print the majority of its work on digital presses.

When Stephen Dunlevy, owner and president of Reid Graphics, acquired the company in 1993, he had a vision to replace much of the company’s analog flexography footprint with digital print solutions that can reduce waste and improve turnaround times. Dunlevy added a first-generation Indigo Omnius press in 2002 and an HP Indigo press ws4500 a few years later, decommissioning eight of Reid Graphics’ 16 narrow-web flexo presses along the way.

The HP Indigo WS6000 digital press is designed to be more cost-effective than analog flexo on up to 80 percent of jobs label converters typically produce.¹ It will allow Reid Graphics to retire three more flexo presses in addition to its older Omnius digital press. The new WS6000 model will also take the Andover, MA-based label converter past the tipping point from analog to digital pages.

"Serving clients in today’s economy requires greater flexibility and increased throughput in the number of jobs produced per shift, and the new WS6000 model will allow us to deliver more value," said Dunlevy. "We are poised for explosive growth with this new press and the completion of a 30,000 square foot addition to our manufacturing facility."

Digital's benefits have broad appeal
Reid Graphics, like many converters, has discovered that digital presses can help to expand its customer base, attracting larger clients in search of just-in-time manufacturing, as well as smaller clients needing affordable, high-quality mid-volume labels. In the 2000s, the company learned how service-oriented, quick-turnaround, fast-changeover printing drives customer acquisition when it served as a beta test fulfillment provider for the online collateral printing firm VistaPrint.