HP Indigo 18K

The Indigo 18K is the drupa 2024 successor to the Indigo 15K — itself descended from the 10000/12000 line that made B2 digital mainstream. HP now redirects the 15K product page to the 18K and bills it as 'the next generation of the world's best-selling B2 digital press' (IDC unit-shipment data). The fundamentals carry over: 3,450 B2 sheets per hour in four colours — 345 ppm A4-equivalent — 4,600 in three-colour EPM, a 750 × 530 mm sheet and up to seven ink stations.

The upgrade list is about applications and automation. The 18K is the only press in its class to duplex on 450–600 µm board, opening premium folding carton work; Photo-Pro Mode automatically deploys CMYK plus light-light-black for photo-grade output without a specialist; and the 18K HD adds HD Imaging and a Fine Line RIP option at 4876 × 4876 dpi addressability for high line screens and crisp micro-text. Auto Alert Agent 2.0 — AI inline inspection — detects defects, discards faulty sheets and reprints on the fly, while machine-learning downtime prediction adds around 5% utilisation versus the 15K.

This is the genuine one-press-for-everything machine: more than 2,000 certified substrates (75% classed sustainable) and 12 specialty ElectroInks, from Premium White and light inks to Fluorescent Pink, Vivid Pink and Green, invisible yellow and primer. A single 18K can carry photo books, commercial collateral, short-run cartons, security print, heat transfer and gaming applications — switching substrates within a single job.

The economics hinge on EPM: dropping the black separation yields a 33% productivity boost, 24% lower energy and 25% lower cost per sheet at 4,600 sheets an hour. Single-operator multi-press working trims the labour line, and the deep 12000/15K refurbished market underpins residual values. Trade guidance puts a new 18K at roughly US$1.1M–1.6M depending on configuration.