Wednesday, 21 Feb 2018 20:18 GMT

HP Scitex 11000

Brian Sims finds out whether the impressive HP Scitex 11000 industrial press can match its sheer size with the output it produces and the quality it maintains

A beast that is worth taming

Those of you that have read our previous articles would be aware of the ubiquitous small grey box description we give to digital printing equipment that can do quite amazing things from such small confines. For my delve into technology this month, it is only the colour that is shared with our usual reviews—it may be grey but there is nothing small about the HP Scitex 11000 industrial press in either size or volume of production.

The Scitex 11000 is a large-format inkjet printer that will require significant floor space, but this will be matched by quite significant output across a number of modes, such as sample, text, POP (point-of-purchase) production, and fast production; the first giving up to 32, and the latter 127 beds of production per hour.

The Scitex 11000 is a large-format inkjet printer that will require significant floor space, but this will be matched by quite significant output”


How are these impressive production figures accomplished? At the heart of the 11000 is a series of printing heads that are configured to run HP’s HDR Scitex inks. Each colour has 52 print heads which deploy ink at three different volumes: 15, 30, and 45 picolitres. The colour range is as expected with the standard CMYK alongside a light cyan and magenta.

The clever technology behind the ink disbursement is something called Scitex High Dynamic Range (HDR) print technology. Basically, the HDR system controls where the ink is deployed and varies the amount in three droplet sizes and across 16 grey-scale levels giving low grain and very smooth colour transitions. This will allow for far greater control of the image being produced, which allows the operator to make a judgement call on whether volume or quality is needed. The inks are UV curable, which gives instant touch dry products with a wide colour gamut.

Vibrant results

Do not be under any illusion, any of the settings chosen will produce hard wearing vibrant colour reproduction, which makes this machine ideal for POP and retail graphics. The precision dot reproduction over these very large print areas ensures that text and bar coding graphics is maintained in sharp and clear detail.

Any of the settings chosen will produce hard wearing vibrant colour reproduction, which makes this machine ideal for POP and retail graphics”


The combination of inks and print heads means the colour reproduction reaches the standards needed but also a clever system called Smart Coat Technology seals these colours in and gives long and durable products needed for outdoor and POP production.

It goes without saying that in this day and age, eco-credentials are vital and need to be embedded in any equipment or consumable. We are long past the times when these credentials were a USP, now they need to be a given. To this extent, the Scitex HDR inks have achieved the Greenguard Gold standard.

Greenguard certification is part of UL Environment’s ecological compliance program. UL Environment is part of Underwriters Laboratories (UL) and acquired Greenguard in 2011, which provides purchasers with assurances the products being supplied will comply with the highest of ecological standards. To satisfy the Greenguard gold standard, the inks supplied by HP Scitex must meet the stringent emissions standards based on established chemical exposure criteria and have very low impact on the environment. They contain very low levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and are nickel free.

So much for the ink deployment, what else causes this printing press to tick so many productivity boxes? The machine comes with a number of media feeding options. You can feed media sheet to sheet in three quarters automatic loading, semi-automatic, and manual loading. You can also increase production by loading the machine with four sheets at one time to reproduce the image on four separate sheets.


You can increase production by loading the machine with four sheets at one time to reproduce the image on four separate sheets



Media choices are wide and encompass Acrylic, PVC sheets, polystyrene (HIPS), polycarbonate, polyethylene, polypropylene, and synthetic paper to name but a few. Thickness of the sheets can vary between 0.1 to 25mm, and weigh from 20kg for automatic and 40kg for manual loading.

Maintaining quality

Clearly the machine is not going to fit into every press hall; space for the machine itself is one thing but you need to consider ample space for the raw and printed materials. But, if you are considering this type of press, these would all have been considerations in the thought process.

Having the press installed and delivered is all well and good, but when the educated staff of HP Scitex leave you to your own devices, what is in place to achieve the production figures quoted by the sales representative?

As you would have expected, HP Scitex have a number of initiatives and products to keep your press up and running maintaining both up time and promises. These are all contained in something called HP Service

Advantage, especially designed for HP Scitex presses. Service Advantage has four elements to it, Customer Excellence Programme, Smart Uptime Kit, Print Care, and finally a blended learning experience.

HP states the services have a number of objectives such as taking control of print production through training getting the best from the investment. The service solution also works to maintain uptime by proactively maintaining the press and making sure if support is needed, it is deployed quickly and efficiently.

The Customer Excellence Programme is a structured and multi-disciplined customer service that seeks to use the expertise HP has in abundance to reach your objectives and goals, and then advance them through continuous improvement.

Smart Uptime Kit uses a cloud-based system to manage inventory of parts and consumables. This not only allows you to have what you need on site when you need it, but also to reduce costs of unnecessary consumables that eat into your budget. Uptime Kit means you have the shelf of what you need, when you need it. If you do not have it to hand, a fully supported 24/7 service is available.

Print Care is an industry leading set of tools and services which will allow you to proactively plan what maintenance is needed when. By the use of remote diagnostics and skilled staff looking at your machine from a service centre, you can have peace of mind that the likelihood of an unplanned failure is greatly reduced.

Finally, HP is very keen to empower its customer base to manage its own destiny. By having up to date training and complete understanding of their press, the operators will not only ensure production levels are maintained, but quality and unplanned occurrences are also well under control.

With support available as it is, the HP Scitex 11000 is not only a big machine but it also has the potential to maintain high quality and production levels for the most demanding of markets, meaning you can expand what your business offers its customers.


Brian Sims, principal consultant, Metis Print Consultancy, www.metis-uk.eu


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