Available worldwide from early November, the FS50 and FS60 will replace the Latex 2700 as HP’s flagship industrial production press for the Latex range; it has been released simultaneously with HP’s Live Production software, announced at Drupa.
Both printing at up to 89sqm/hr on three passes, and both available with optional white channel, the two models are largely distinguished by the FS60’s 10L colour ink cartridges, compared to the FS50’s 5L cartridges.
Key to both machines is their “scalability”, as HP puts it.
In effect, both represent the initial version of, or “platform” for, an evolving machine for which HP will release both hardware upgrades and software updates in future, according to Oscar Vidal, HP’s global director of product portfolio and strategy for large format.
“The beauty of this platform is that if customers need more, they can upgrade,” Vidal said.
“That’s the heart of this scalability concept that we are launching this week, and we’re excited about bringing that flexibility to our customers.”
For now, the scalability is limited to the ability to upgrade an FS50 to an FS60 by installing larger ink cartridge capacity, or adding a 300kg roll capacity, ink collector kit, or in-line slitters, but the future represents a wide range of options.
“The printers are designed to make these upgrades easy,” Vidal said.
“So even if they do incorporate hardware changes, we’ll be able to make those changes very quickly: there won’t be the need to work on the machine for three days for something that could be done in hours – that’s the goal.
“We wanted this concept of modularity to be not only a way for customers to grow, but also a convenient process that will not stop your production if you need to upgrade your device.”
For now, HP is concentrating on the machines’ launch, with information to follow about later upgrades as HP develops them; the manufacturer confirmed that each upgrade would be at a set price, rather than covered under a subscription model.
The concept of a scalable machine came to HP from printers themselves: concerned by the cashflow and environmental cost of replacing quickly-evolving digital equipment, printers still recognised the need to upgrade their equipment to stay ahead of the competition.
“You’re buying a platform that can evolve as your business grows,” Vidal said.
Stock of both machines is ready to ship from Barcelona, with installation lead times likely to be around ten days or two weeks, or even shorter, he added.
Released contemporaneously with the FS50 and FS60 is HP’s Live Production software, part of its premium HP Professional Print Service Plus software package, which is compatible with HP’s full lineup of wide-format machines.
As well as being able to remotely monitor production and data analytics, monitor printer status and jobs and substrate profiles, users will now be able to remotely control their printers' queues to fine-tune job management on the fly.
“The beauty of this system is that it helps the customer build what we call the ‘digital factory’ concept,” Vidal said.
“The operator can decide to pause, cancel or reprioritise a job within the queue, all from your [HP] PrintOS software, PC, or cell phone.
“If you get a customer call, saying ‘I need this ASAP, can you prioritise my work?’ then you don’t need to go back to the production floor, stop what you’re doing and re-print, re-RIP. You just upload this job into the queue, click on the app, and the printer will start, sync up with the cloud, and start working.”
