In an interview with PrintWeek, Strata owner Jeff Sammak said, "We have two iGens in the shop, which we like a lot, but the HP offered a little different depth or angle into the kind of work that fills a gap. Some of is its actual production characteristics such as the seven-ink colors and white ink colors that enable us to produce pieces for customers that really look different."

Strata has positioned itself more as a full marketing services company rather than as strictly a commercial printer. But as Sammak pointed out, "If you're talking about a multi-channel marketing campaign, that often starts with the direct mail piece - and obviously grabbing attention by having mail that doesn't look like the routine pieces people are receiving is a real benefit."

The HP Indigo 7500 features four-color printing speeds of up to 120ppm or 240ppm for letter size in either monochrome or two colors, intelligent automation with Vision System intelligent diagnostics, and it supports a wide-range of substrates including coated, uncoated and specialty media such as transparent, metallic and colored papers.

The Rollem TR Die-Score System provides the ability to score, slit and perforate with speeds up to 15,000sph and is versatile enough to handle stocks from 16lb. onion skin to 40pt. board.

Sammak said the new Indigo is not replacing other equipment, adding he financed the press through HP. "It was a pretty competitive deal and worthwhile for us to do it," he said. "Typically I've gone through bank financing for new equipment but that environment is tougher these days."

He also expressed optimism about demand for commercial printing and other marketing this year. "Anecdotally, it's still pretty fragile, but a lot of people bottomed out in their marketing about a year ago and in some cases they have no choice but to move forward and in other cases people are just growing more optimistic and are more willing to pull the trigger."