To assist in its development of the press, which has been renamed the HP T300 Color Inkjet Web Press, HP has signed a strategic alliance with US-based print giant RR Donnelley.

Under the terms of the agreement, HP's High-Speed Production Solutions unit will collaborate with RR Donnelley's Research and Development Centre "to develop new digital printing technologies".

Vyomesh Joshi, executive vice president of HP's Imaging and Printing Group, said: "With the introduction of the Inkjet Web Press at Drupa last year, we broke new ground in the analogue-to-digital transformation of the graphics industry.

"As the leader in digital printing, we are taking this transformation one step further by collaborating with the world's largest print service provider to bring greater value to our customers."

Mary Lee Schneider, chief technology officer for RR Donnelley, added: "We expect that the combined resources of RR Donnelley and HP will enable the industry to move more quickly towards a future in which digital printing provides an even greater opportunity for product innovation and more effectively complements proven conventional printing technologies."

The two companies plan to focus initially on the development of a Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) system, based on HP's inkjet technology and developed by RR Donnelley for transactional, transpromo and direct mail applications.

It is anticipated that the MICR system would be offered as an optional component of the HP T300 Color Inkjet Web Press and would be used for RR Donnelley's internal needs, as well as being offered by HP.

Also see: Pitney Bowes turns to HP for transactional print solution