HP Inc.’s print service providers (PSPs) are mobilizing industrial facilities worldwide to deliver print products and help in the global effort to battle the COVID-19 pandemic. Many PSPs are working with limited staff to adhere to health regulations, while retooling production lines to support the effort.
“We greatly appreciate our print partners and their employees for their unrelenting dedication and are pleased we can also play a part in supporting the huge effort taking place,” said Santi Morera, general manager and global head of HP’s Graphics Solutions Business.
Important supplies and healthcare needs
Nosco of Illinois, a subsidiary of Holden Industries, Inc, a supplier of digital print solutions for folding cartons, labels and flexible packaging focused heavily on pharma and healthcare, is using multiple HP Indigo digital label press equipment 24/7 to produce packaging testing kits, Drug products, syringes for hospitals, face masks, and hand sanitizer during the current crisis with the virus. Millions of labels have already been produced and production will continue to support the needs of the pharma and healthcare market.
Custom Label of California is a supplier with a designated “essential business” status producing products for healthcare, food and more. As a result of a spike in orders, HP has shipped emergency ink supplies the same day to the site to ensure no disruption in production. “One of the largest increases in incremental volume is for packaging for ready-to-eat food due to the shift from dining out to making food at home,” said Lars Ho-Tseung, President and CEO, Custom Label. “Volume is also increasing for labels and packaging for over-the-counter drug products for flu symptoms.”
Duggal Visual Solutions, a New York City commercial print service provider, has also teamed up with Kings County Distillery, a Brooklyn Navy Yard neighbor that has converted its efforts to produce hand sanitizer. The two companies are producing, bottling and labeling the products that are in short supply in the US. Duggal is printing the paper-based labels on its sheetfed HP Indigo 12000 presses.
“Neighbors are helping neighbors, taking the tools you have to partner and create immediate solutions,” said Marc Lovci, vice president at Duggal. “Kings reached out at to our Indigo department to create the labels including die cutting and adhesive.”
In China, Foresee Images Technology of Shanghai, printed labels for medical equipment, such as sterilized wet wipes. The customer required labels in same-day turnaround, within 6 hours, for a print job that typically requires a week to complete. To ensure protective measures were also in place, the printer had to disinfect the premise and provide shielded gear for staff who were quickly resourced to complete the production of uncontaminated labels.
Signage for testing centers, hospitals and supermarkets
Kirkwood Printing of Wilmington, MA, also mobilized for overnight delivery of outdoor signage printed for drive-thru testing centers set up by a locally headquartered national pharmacy. The signage, produced on HP Latex R2000 printers, helps direct people around the area. In addition, point of purchase posters are being printed on HP Indigo digital presses for many retailers to advise of store closings. “Shortly after this crisis began, we began diverting resources to COVID-19 related needs, providing materials as fast as possible for signage to inform the public,” said Mark Nappa, chief sales officer of Kirkwood.
As a leading printing company in China, Beijing Indigo Digital Printing printed virus prevention informational signage and materials for National Health Commission and Beijing National Health Commission. HP Indigo digital printing enabled printing and supply of the materials in fast turnaround for sending materials to front-line hospitals quickly.
Ironmark of Maryland is supporting with COVID-19 related signage for nine different health care systems at over 150 locations. The new signage warns of health precautions, designates areas at hospitals including triage and repurposed space with facilities for patient care services.
Carly Press of the UK identified the need to print free stickers for local residents to put up outside their homes, in order to indicate they are in self isolation. Utilizing their HP latex 360 printer and some spare press capacity, Carly Press was able to print clear, bright stickers, and are experiencing growing demand for from their local area to nationally across the UK.
Protective gear for those on the front lines
Dispackaging in Spain is using its HP Latex R series printers to produce face shields to help cope with the lack of protection for health service workers. Production of the low-cost masks has reached 50,000 units a week.
Duggal converts facilities: Retooling to produce protective masks for hospitals
Duggal Visual Solutions has retooled its production facility to produce face shields for medical staff and first responders in New York City. “Over the past week, we assembled a task force to address the shortage in health care safety equipment and immediately saw we could quickly produce face shields. Over 150 volunteers are coming to work to make this life-saving equipment, producing 120,000 units in the first week, with a total order of 360,000 units,” said Marc Lovci, vice president at Duggal. Duggal Visual Solutions occupies 250,000 square feet of production space, in five buildings within the historic Brooklyn Navy Yard. Labels are printed in the Indigo Digital Press division.
Sabaté, a specialized point of sale creator from Spain, has used HP Latex technology to produce protective separation screens and floor signs in grocery stores. The protective separation screens for counters create a barrier between customers, workers and product (in this case, food). The counters are made of polycarbonate and HP Latex printed ultra-transparent vinyl. The floor vinyl is self-adhesive, and it’s used to limit passage of people and keep the safety distance.
Superior Packaging & Finishing of Braintree, MA is using HP Indigo 12000 presses to create thousands of face masks to donate to local hospitals and businesses to limit the potential for exposure faced by essential, non-medical employees. "My heart goes out to all the doctors, nurses, and first responders putting their health on the line for all of us. We want to do everything we can to make sure they have the tools to stay safe so that they can continue to do their jobs," said Donny Charlebois, president and founder.
Family activities to keep spirits high
Smartphoto and Cartamundi in Belgium, identified two family groups that love each other’s company, kids and their grandparents, forced to spend time apart during the outbreak. An initiative called “ik denk aan jou – kaartspel” (translated as “I’m thinking about you - card deck”) encourages children to design playing cards by drawing or uploading pictures for their grandparents so that when the lockdown has passed the family can play together again.
40,000 “Thank yous” – Personalized airline boarding passes for medical workers
To thank nurses and doctors who were on the frontline in Wuhan hospitals for more than two months, boarding passes home were personalized with special messages for a group of over 40,000 doctors and nurses who selflessly risked their lives in the call of duty to save countless lives.
China’s Jiangsu Baicheng printed the unique boarding passes using their HP Indigo 12000HD to reinforce their gratitude for their efforts and hard work during a highly tense environment. They were given only 24 hours to complete the job to catch the flights. They completed it in 16 hours!
