Inkjet & Digital Printing
Digital People Installs HP Indigo Press on P&O Cruises latest super liner
Wednesday 11. March 2009 - Digital People has installed an HP Indigo press 1050 on board P&O Cruises' new super liner, Ventura, the largest cruise ship in the fleet. The new digital press will be used to produce a wide range of applications including menus, schedules, welcome packs, daily newspapers and marketing collateral on a daily basis.
In addition to the installation of its new HP Indigo press 1050 P&O Cruises also purchased DirectSmile software to personalise its printed items and has used its combination of new technologies to produce customised flyers using the data from the ship’s passenger list.
“We wanted to improve the quality of our printed on-board communications to our customers, so we invested in an HP Indigo press 1050,” said Steven Spilsbury, fleet marketing and communications manager, P&O Cruises. “At P&O Cruises, we pride ourselves on being attentive to our customers’ requirements. Our new press and personalisation software enables us to produce high-quality print that is relevant to the reader and accurately reflects our brand values.”
The press was installed in Italy in a custom built pressroom whilst the ship was being constructed. Digital People used its experience gained after installing an HP Indigo press on-board sister company Ocean Village’s cruise ship, Ocean Village 2, to overcome the challenges of installing a press on a cruise ship. Digital People ensured that the correct power requirements were fitted in the new pressroom and even dismantled the press on land in order to fit through the liner’s one-metre wide doors and re-built the press on board Ventura.
“Digital people were excellent and handled the installation brilliantly. They were very enthusiastic and worked hard to ensure that the installation ran smoothly,” said Spilsbury.
Since its installation, the HP Indigo press has printed over one million impressions per month for the ship’s passengers and it is vital that its HP Indigo press 1050 produces the highest quality printed items at all times.
Chris Blanchard, director, Digital People said, “We work very closely with P&O Cruises to ensure that its HP Indigo press is maintained to high standards. We provided operator and engineering training at our headquarters in Chessington, Surrey, to maximise uptime and keep the press running efficiently. We also provide support to P&O Cruises whilst the ship is in port in the UK and in the Caribbean. Additionally remote support facilities are in place so we can diagnose and handle any issues that may arise whilst the ship is at sea.”
Steven Spilsbury, concluded, “We have been very happy with our new HP Indigo press 1050, which is able to colour match the P&O Cruises’ logo perfectly. Our customers have noticed the difference and we have received some very positive feedback about our digitally printed items.”