CompanyBox today announced the purchase of a new HP PageWide C500 Press to produce high-quality digital post-print corrugated packaging. The investment supports CompanyBox’s all-digital plant strategy to meet brands’ demand for greater flexibility in corrugated boxes and displays.
Scheduled for installation this fall, the HP PageWide C500 Press will serve as CompanyBox’s cornerstone in expanding its digital footprint in high-volume corrugated packaging. The company sees growing demand for high-quality single-pass digital print, especially with fast-moving consumer goods and food packaging.
The C500 will operate in the company’s greenfield all-digital packaging plant in Charlotte, North Carolina. With this strategic site, and its additional plant in Geneva, Ohio, CompanyBox can efficiently serve the packaging needs of some of America’s largest retail brands and subscription service companies with a digital print capacity of over 85,000 square feet per hour.
The PageWide C500 will be CompanyBox’s largest digital investment, following its HP Scitex 15500 and 17000 multi-pass press installations. The C500 will help support the company’s fast-growing packaging business, CompanyBox.com.
A huge value of the HP PageWide corrugated solution is its true water-based inks and fluids engineered for food-safe packaging. Unlike most digital corrugated presses on the market, HP PageWide inks contain no UV-reactive chemistries, therefore enabling printing on both primary and secondary food packaging without the need for an additional barrier.
“We needed a digital solution for primary food packaging. After we researched digital presses from multiple OEMs, we knew we wanted to differentiate with inks containing no UV-reactive chemistries,” says Louie DeJesus, CompanyBox CEO. “True water-based ink is a unique feature that will enable us to comply with even the most stringent global food safety regulations, including Nestle guidance and Swiss Ordinance.”
Another differentiator that CompanyBox recognized in choosing the C500 is HP’s investment in high-value workflow solutions. HP’s recently announced One Package workflow portfolio will enable CompanyBox to integrate mainstream digital print into its fast-paced operations. “Efficient, high-volume workflow is extremely important to our continued ability to meet clients’ service level agreements,” says DeJesus. “We trust HP to help us look at the big strategic picture, while addressing many smaller ways to enhance our operational efficiency. The PageWide C500 and One Package workflow portfolio give us the ability to scale.”
