In comparison, some offset machines were 50 to 60 meters long and two stories high and needed two to three hours and two operators to set up. Way ahead of its time, the Omnius sparked the digital label and packaging market with a much smaller footprint – seven times smaller than the industry standard – with better quality printing. The Omnius could basically print on any media for production of customized labels and cartons. Announced in January 1995, the introduction of the press helped propel the stock price of the newly publicly traded Indigo as the market understood the potential. This campaign redefined the marketing of the package in the age of social media, making a historic impact on consumer goods marketing with a race to share in the ‘Share a Coke’ moment.Īs Labels & Labeling celebrates 40 years documenting the industry, let’s look back at how Indigo, also established four decades ago, engineered market disruption and eventual commercial success for digital label printing.Īfter its splash at Ipex, Indigo made its first drupa appearance in 1995, where it showed not only the E-Print 1000, but also its first concept label press, the Omnius. The Share a Coke campaign, launched in Australia in 2011, spread first to Europe and then worldwide, reaching over 10 billion printed labels. Strategic campaigns have become the norm as major brands use Indigo digital printing to drive worldwide campaigns. In some countries, almost 100 percent of labels in certain applications are printed digitally on HP Indigo presses. Today, HP Indigo presses lead the industry with some 75 percent of the digital label market. The digital revolution brought a fundamental change by matching conventional printing quality, while at the same time enabling on-demand, short-run color printing and the run length of ‘one’, thereby opening the door to customized labels and the possibility to streamline supply chains. The innovative Indigo process was quickly transcribed to label printing. The product debut shook the printing industry to its foundations and launched a new era. In 1993, the first digital offset color printing press, the E-Print 1000, was introduced to the world by Indigo at Ipex. More recently, HP Indigo digital printing is entering into new frontiers, extending the continuous digital process with embellishment. Step by step, over 23 years, Indigo has not only perfected a digital process for label printing, but also created an entire digital ecosystem. The promise of digital printing in a conservative market was a vision that would eventually create an industry. The history of digital printing is almost synonymous with the introduction of the technology into the label industry.
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