Digitizing supply chains and production
To achieve the quantum improvements in environment performance we all want, we must reinvent the very nature of printing.
One way HP is doing this is by developing commercial print solutions that help organizations shift from analog to digital printing. These solutions, which are already in use around the world, enable on-demand, customized printing of materials, including marketing collaterals, labels, signage, and packaging, that helps companies create more tailored materials with less waste.
For example, companies like Coca-Cola, Emerald, and Nestle have used HP Indigo digital presses to create highly-customized and personalized packaging for their products – delivering unique content targeted to specific audiences in an efficient and cost-effective way.
But HP’s commercial printing solutions are more about than just customization – they also help companies reduce the environment impact of printing.
For example, with HP PageWide Web Presses there are no plates or shells to produce, store, nor dispose of after print job is completed. Digital printing doesn’t create “make ready” waste at the start of production, unlike traditional analog technologies. HP PageWide Web Presses also use water-based ink technology and specially engineered bonding agents that do not require hazard labels – helping create a better work environment than in many analog printing workplaces.
By enabling companies to print materials where and when they need them, digital printing also eliminates storage, packaging, and shipping costs, and lowers greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions related to transporting materials.
Changing the publishing business
One of the key industries being transformed by digital printing is the book publishing business. Traditional printing processes usually require very large production runs to be economically feasible. Unfortunately, publishers oftentimes overestimate demand. Courier Corporation, a full-service book manufacturing and specialty book publishing company, is a good example. One of its subsidiaries, Dover Publications, specializes in reissuing books that are no longer in print by their original publishers. Dover has a specialized book list that covers a wide variety of subjects, including literature, history, sciences, and even sheet music, with variable print sizes and run lengths.
By shifting to digital on-demand printing, the publisher has been able to cut inventory by 28 percent, reduce warehouse space by 19 percent, and bring 1,100 titles back into print through on-demand processes.
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