www.MyPRINTResource.com SEPTEMBER 2014 • INKJET'S AGE 9
"Too much water is bad," Gardner
confirmed. In the fall of 2013, the com-
mercial, web-offset print firm for which
he works took delivery of the world's first
(and so far only) HP T330 Color Inkjet
Web Press featuring the drying capacity
of the T350 model along with remois-
turizing technology. Without adding
moisture, paper can "bake crispy in non-
coverage areas," he continued.
What is a "330" model? Inkjet's Age
editors are familiar with the HP 300 and
350, but we hadn't heard of the 330. "It's
a reengineered 350 with the speed slowed
down but still featuring the maximum
drying capacity and remoisturizing unit,"
explained Gardner.
With 200 employees and annual sales
of $30 million, the 104-year-old Hud-
son was in search of a digital press that
Best Practices
W
hile no longer a fledgling technology, inkjet-web printing still
is a bit wet under its wings. The liquid pun is totally intended:
Water, after all, is the enemy of inkjet. Just ask Paul Gardner,
director of innovation at Hudson Printing, Salt Lake City, UT.
With several years of real-business history now under their belts, OEMs and
printing firms share IJ technology best practices. By MARC VRUNO
Help Inkjet to
Soar Higher
could handle heavy ink coverage for the
catalog and magazine work it prints. "We
need to be able to stabilize the media so
we can deliver flat sheets and flat book
blocks," Gardner added. What Hudson
did not need, however—and could not
afford—was the 600-fpm (feet per min-
ute) speed of the HP T350.
In the Midwest, 20-year print indus-
try veteran Martin Aalsma agreed with
Gardner's water assessment. "Ninety
percent of the issues related to inkjet re-
volve around water, drying, and density,"
said Aalsma, who now is VP and chief
operating officer at Documation, Inc.,
Eau Claire, WI, after cutting his printing
teeth at Quad/Graphics, RR Donnelley,
and Western States Envelope & Label. A
$15-million media and print solutions
provider with 130 employees, Documa-
tion added its second HP T230 Inkjet
Web Press in 2013; the first was installed
one year earlier in its 35,000-square-foot
facility. "The [paper] bonding agent is
more water, which doesn't help with dry-
ing," Aalsma added.
Users and OEMs agree that media is
one of three main considerations when
contemplating inkjet efficiency. The
other two are workflow and finishing.
Last fall, Hudson Printing took
delivery of the world's frst (and
still only) slowed-down HP T330
Inkjet Web Press, which can
handle heavy ink coverage for the
frm's catalog and magazine work.