Not long ago, the only option for label printing was flexographic printing. Flexo printing is an ideal option for making long runs of labels more efficient, but it is not ideal for short runs. Customers in the past may have ordered hundreds of thousands of labels that often grew old on the shelf or would need to be thrown out due to a product change because printing shorter runs was not an economic option. But in the early 2000s, digital printing became a viable option in the label printing market, and Dion was quick to seize the opportunities we saw this platform could provide for our customers.

In 2005, we acquired the first in a series of many digital presses, an HP Indigo WS 4050. It provided us with the opportunity to print for a wider customer base, including smaller companies who did not require large orders of labels, as well as to serve our existing clientele better. We were so pleased with the results that a year later we added a second Indigo. Even the early models had the ability to print with the extended color gamut, so we were able to match the colors we were producing on our flexo presses. We were immensely pleased with the way digital printing met our color expectations and our customers’ needs.

As with many technologies, digital printing presses continued to progress in their capabilities; we did not hesitate to keep up with the advances. We upgraded our presses to the HP 6000 models, and then to 6600s, as we’d put a lot of miles on the others. During our first ten years of printing digitally, we were continually impressed with the paths that were opened to us with these presses as part of our printing fleet.

In 2015, we made the move to upgrade even further to two HP Indigo WS6800 models. They offered increased output with speeds of up to 130 feet per minute in Enhanced Productivity Mode (EPM) and a wider print width. They could also print on a wider range of materials, including both pressure sensitive materials and flexible packaging. And within the last few months, we’ve added yet another digital press, the HP Indigo 8000, which with its two print engines is able to print up to 262 feet per minute in EPM. It has built-in spectrophotometers and software tools to simplify color management. The greatest benefit of the addition of this press is that it allows us to maximize efficiency by dispersing orders across all our presses to the platform that will be most effective, enabling shorter lead times for our customers.

At Dion Label Printing, our primary aim is to give our clients the best labels possible, and our digital presses are just one of the many ways we work every day to accomplish that goal. Request a free sample packet today to see our exemplary print work!