Steady rise in customer demand continues for digitally printed packaging
HP Inc. (NYSE: HPQ) and ePac Flexible Packaing, the all-HP Indigo digital flexible packaging leader, today announced that ePac hit a new production record at the start of 2020 on its fleet of HP Indigo 20000 digital presses operating globally, driven by a doubling of its customer base in the past year.
Expanding in 2020 in North America, Europe, and Asia, ePac is currently serving more than 6000 customers, primarily small and medium-sized businesses benefitting from HP Indigo digital technology for economical short, medium and even longer run length orders, and ePac’s commitment to 10-15 business day turnaround time.
In January 2020, production reached a new record of over 20 million B1 impressions at 10 sites where ePac is currently operating HP Indigo presses. Compared to January of last year, volume has tripled.
“Our customers have discovered the advantages of locally sourced, fast turnaround packaging as a means to drive market expansion of their brand. A high percentage of orders today are coming from returning customers,” said Carl Joachim, ePac CMO.
By the end of 2020, ePac is set to roll out a total of 52 HP Indigo 20000 presses as it continues its global expansion to 20 locations.
“ePac is leading the digital flexible packaging movement worldwide, as it successfully replicates its HP Indigo digital printing-based business model in new locations. This expansion provides new opportunities for brands and end users benefit from digital printing advantages, including fast turnaround, no minimum order quantities, low waste and unlimited variable data for targeting, customization and personalization,” said Alon Bar-Shany, general manager, HP Indigo.
ePac’s growing footprint in the US today includes sites in Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Boulder, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis and Madison. In Canada, ePac Vancouver has begun operations, as has ePac Silverstone in the United Kingdom.
Cleveland, Philadelphia, Seattle and Richmond will open this year with several more US sites currently under review, as well as expansion in Europe. ePac Asia Pacific, announced in late 2019, is scheduled to open for business in Bandara Mas, Tangerang, Indonesia in mid-2020 as the first ePac site in the region.
ePac taps into growing market for digital flexible packaging
Founded in May 2016 as a Greenfield business with one HP Indigo 20000 press, ePac has grown exponentially. ePac’s key markets include coffee, pet food, nutritional supplements, snacks, health and beauty, organic foods, cheese and dairy, confection, jerky and bakery products.
In 2019, ePac placed an incremental order of 24 HP Indigo 20000 presses that was the largest packaging deal ever for HP, in preparation for the global expansion. The investment is valued at over $100 million, including hardware, supplies and services over several years.
Advantages of the 30-inch wide (76 cm) HP Indigo 20000 Digital Press are the 42-inch repeat and white ink options. At ePac, HP PrintOS is also an integral part of job flow, performing press performance uptime monitoring across their entire fleet of printers.
