RR Donnelley and HP Partner to Develop Digital Printing Technology

R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company and HP announced that plans have been finalized to create a technology alliance to collaborate on the development of digital printing solutions for inkjet-based digital presses.

"With the introduction of the Inkjet Web Press at Drupa last year, we broke new ground in the analog-to-digital transformation of the graphics industry," said Vyomesh Joshi, Executive VP, Imaging and Printing Group, HP. "As a provider of digital printing solutions, we are taking this transformation one step further by collaborating with print service providers to bring greater value to our customers."

Under the proposed arrangement, RR Donnelley said its Research and Development Center is expected to collaborate with the Inkjet High-speed Production Solutions unit of HP to develop new digital printing technologies. Products are planned to be sold under the HP brand.

"We expect that the combined resources of RR Donnelley and HP will enable the industry to move more quickly towards a future in which digital printing provides an even greater opportunity for products and more effectively complements conventional printing technologies," said Mary Lee Schneider, CTO for RR Donnelley. "We look forward to bringing our collective talent and intellectual property to bear on what we believe is a new chapter in the ongoing evolution of the printing industry."

The two companies, which are working to put formal agreements in place, initially plan to focus on the development of a Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) printing solution. MICR printing enables high-speed and secure reading of checks by financial institutions. This solution would be based on HP's inkjet printing technology and developed by RR Donnelley for transactional, transpromotional and direct mail applications. The companies noted it anticipate that the solution will be offered as an optional component of the HP T300 Color Inkjet Web Press and be used for RR Donnelley's internal needs as well as offered by HP.

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