This year’s Sign & Digital UK will showcase the broadest range
of HP large-format printers ever. This is part of HP’s ongoing drive
to provide industry leading printers in each segment of the signage market
that enables sign makers to capitalise on the rapid growth the market has
seen. Analysts are confident that this trend is set to continue, fuelled
by new applications and technologies. Projections show a double-digit growth
until 2011. HP intends to be well placed to capture this growth and enable
its customers to profit from it.
The new range of HP Designjets
Recent acquisitions (NUR and ColorSpan were both acquired by HP in the
last six months) and the extension of the Designjet range means that
the right products to address growth - whether through format types,
ink or printing technologies - are now within the range. HP now has the
industry’s broadest large-format portfolio and the HP stand at
Sign & Digital UK (stand G40) is a good place to see how comprehensive
it is and the business opportunities available with wide-format solutions.

Solvent inks, aqueous inks and UV curable inks all facilitate a wide range
of applications and open new market opportunities to print service providers
(PSPs). This range of applications is now addressed with the HP Designjet
Z6100 in the classic aqueous market, the HP Designjet 8000/9000/10000 in
solvent ink applications, while the recently launched HP Designjet H35000/H45000
series extend the range into the UV curable market. With recent acquisition
of NUR, HP now has an unrivaled breadth of solutions for PSPs.
The technology enables variable data printing for projects
never before possible: signage all kinds, including personalisation with
local retailers’ details;
short-usage promotional work, vehicle and building wraps, or short test
runs for new product packaging, designs or product trials – not to
mention rigid substrate printing and textile printing for interior decoration
and fashion markets. HP offers the complete solution with printer, ink
and media working together to produce high quality, consistent output for
the commercial and industrial markets.
Finding the right Designjet
Users are finding that their expectations are being exceeded by HP’s
offerings enabling their business to move into new markets and increase
the quality of service they offer their clients.
“The HP Designjet H35500 printer has renewed my excitement for the
printing industry. It has opened up massive new business opportunities
for my company because of the range and variety of substrates it can print
onto and the sheer quality of its output,” says Darren Britnell,
managing director, Resource Print Management.
The ability of HP Designjets to widen the service and business offerings
for customers has become a key feature of the range. HP intends to continue
this process to ensure it is able to address the widest application space
possible. The reliability of HP and its partners to support customers means
that new business areas can be explored and developed confidently.
“The HP Designjet solvent printer series - as well as the Z6100 – have
brought another dimension to largeformat printing. It has really upset
the standard. People are now going to aim for that standard, and that will
push higher-quality printing worldwide.” says Steve Farley, Managing
Director, Electronic Printing Services, UK.

The dedicated channel of HP resellers is key in ensuring that the new
users get the right advice and support from the start.
“There was definitely a business opportunity for us in sign making
that we wanted to take up. We had no real experience of large-format graphics
printing but we had used an HP Designjet 1055 in the past for some basic
CAD printing and used a range of smaller HP printers for proofing. We went
to ArtSystems to get some initial guidance. They put us in contact with
HP partners for large-format printing who arranged a demonstration of HP
Designjet Z6100 for us,” says Evan Shipman, creative director, Nemo
Design.
HP resellers are able to offer sustained support and advice that comes
from their intimate knowledge of HP Designjets and applications.
Real partnerships
The strength of HP’s channel structure is vital to ensuring that
the new technologies are rapidly deployed to relevant markets. This year’s
Sign & Digital UK show is a good example of the partnerships that HP
fosters in its channel with distributors and resellers combining their
skills and resources to ensure visitors get the very best advice on HP
solutions. This depth of channel resource ensures that HP is able to reach
to all the market spaces available to its products.
The HP stand at Sign & Digital UK is a practical
expression of that capability.
See the wide-format offerings on stand G40
T: 0870 224 3612
E: marketing@artsystems.ltd.uk
W: www.artsystems.co.uk