Digilinck started from scratch in 2011, with three people. Four years later, their workforce has increased to 25, and the company's growth shows no signs of slowing. In 2014, the company, specialists in luxury packaging and labels in small quantities, produced no less than 12,000 different ones. Originally only one team, they then became two. Today, three teams take turns 24 hours a day to successfully fill their many orders on time.
Unheard of in this market segment
Even in his wildest dreams, Vincent Oosterlinck, the manager, did not expect things to turn out this way. "In our initial business plan, the capacity of the two HP Indigo WS6600 webfed Digital Presses was more than enough for us to achieve our objectives. However, our forecasts were quickly surpassed. The comfort and ease of using the HP Indigo presses to print packages and labels were such that the number of orders began to increase from day to day. This was unheard of in the segment of the market that we provide for, and suddenly, everyone was coming to us."
The HP Indigo 30000 Digital Press
Not enough capacity, even with three teams
Faced with the never-ending flow of orders, Digilinck, which had originally stood out because of its speed and flexibility, found it more and more difficult to maintain their distinction. Vincent Oosterlinck: "In order to continue to be reactive, we went from one team to two. This was only for a short time, as a third team quickly became necessary for us to deliver everything on time. Until the time came when even a 3x8 rotation was no longer enough. We were on the point of losing our early strength. The only possible option: to increase our equipment, with one or more digital presses."
A bigger format, a must
For Digilinck, the launch of the HP Indigo 30000 Digital Press was a real godsend. Vincent explains: "Because of our experience with the two rotary presses, we had already decided that a larger print format would be very useful for us. Occasionally, the format of the HP Indigo WS6600 Digital Press is just a little too small for printing larger packages. We can get around it by turning the other way on the press, but then a relatively large amount of paper is wasted. A larger format, which would allow us to print larger packages, but also combine small jobs, was the only right solution for us."
30 000 packages in two hours
Vincent then explains with a few small calculations: "With the HP Indigo WS6600 Digital Press, we reach speeds up to 1,600 linear meters per hour. On the new press, we can print 3,250 sheets per hour. So, double the quantity in itself, but, since we can fill each sheet more effectively, the benefit is actually much greater. Before, an order of 30,000 packages would take us a full day. With the HP Indigo 30000 Digital Press, we can dispatch it in less than two hours. If we extrapolate this over three teams, we're no longer talking about some progress, but a gigantic leap forward."
The new machine also has seven colors plus a varnish unit, in order to avoid any differences from the point of view of the print quality and the color possibilities. In this way, the large print runs can be handled by the HP Indigo 30000 Digital Press while, for example, a repeat order of a limited number of items can be easily dealt with on the smaller-format rotary presses. The combination of the two has enabled Digilinck to recover the advantages that made the reputation of the young company.