On May 20th, 250 print professionals (HP customers, prospects, analysts, and trade press) descended upon O’Neil Data Systems (ODS) in Plano, Texas, to attend an HP sponsored event announcing new products and technologies. The day included new product announcements from both HP and ODS, which we will discuss in a follow-up blog. This blog will discuss other announcements and questions we asked.
Aurelio Maruggi, Vice President of Inkjet High-Speed Production Solutions and Stephen Nigro, Senior Vice President, Graphics and Inkjet Solutions Business, opened with the HP Inkjet Strategy. They explained that growth came from scalable printing technologies, a strong business case based on productivity, and focusing on industries that are being transformed by new technology.
ODS has become a valued partner with HP beta testing new products and innovating new solutions. “We’re excited to share our latest innovations with customers and other industry experts at this special event co-sponsored with HP,” said Jim Lucanish, President of O’Neil Data Systems. “We’re a technology-driven company and rely on HP for providing us with the most advanced lineup of presses, including our new HP T410 color inkjet web press.”
The T410 was the tenth HP T-series press installed making it the largest HP production inkjet printer worldwide. After four visits to ODS, I asked Jim if they bought presses based on projected growth or contract work. He replied that every purchase was based on signed contracts.
At the end of the day I had a chance to sit down and talk to Aurelio Maruggi. I asked him how he responded to criticism from transactional printing prospects in which they compared the HP T-series presses to Cadillacs, meaning they are high-quality but expensive.
He replied that it costs more to build presses that are upgradable. Many customers, including O’Neil, started with a first generation T-series press and then decided to upgrade it. There are different upgrade paths that generally there is often faster or higher quality printing. He said that building an inkjet press that is upgradable is more expensive, but HP inkjet customers appreciate the ability to upgrade their equipment as their business grows.
More about the new product announcements in the next blog.