The FB225 white Scitex ink is designed to work with the company's recently-launched FB225 process colour Scitex inks, which can be used on the manufacturer's FB7500 and FB7600 industrial flatbed printers.

The addition of white ink to the existing set will enable customers to produce a range of applications, including backlit signage, corrugated packaging as well as window displays.

Available from May, the white ink option can be retrofitted to existing FB7600s, and FB7500s that have installed the FB7500 industrial press upgrade kit, without the need to remove existing spot colours.

The white ink forms part of the FB225 Scitex inks range that are said to have better adhesion on plastics and reduced odour while improving flexibility on corrugated media.

HP also used its latest press conference in Israel this week to outline highlights of its cloud-based SmartStream Production Analyser tool for Scitex users.

The software enables customers to view realtime production information on each machine they run as well as historical reports on press usage. This allows the operator to analyse ink and media consumption as well as waste usage.

The tool, which is available from June 2012, is suitable for customers that use HP's TJ8350, TJ8500 and XP5500 devices and its flatbed printers installed with HP Scitex Print Care.

HP also revealed that from May, companies using its FB7500 and FB7600 machines can invest in an automatic loader from manufacturer Hostert. This automatic media loader is claimed to help improve turnaround times when producing long runs.