Friedrich Pustet Invests in HP PageWide T490

Printing service provider (PSP) Friedrich Pustet is investing in an HP PageWide Web Press T490, expanding its capabilities in digital book production. 

The new system complements the existing fleet of offset presses and marks an important step in the strategic development of this long-established book printer.

Jakob Pustet, seventh-generation member of the management team, said, “We do not see digital printing as a replacement, but as a meaningful complement to our offset business. The combination of both technologies gives us the necessary flexibility to meet the diverse demands of the book market.”

The HP PageWide T490 scales high-speed inkjet for much larger production volumes. The transition allows Pustet to respond dynamically to the fast-paced publishing world, where producing books on demand without long lead times has become a critical competitive advantage.

Florian Hetzenecker, Plant Manager at Friedrich Pustet, said: “The system installation went smoothly — everything worked very well. The different teams worked hand in hand, and we are very proud. This investment is the first step in making our book production flexible and future-proof in the long term.”

To achieve this seamless inline finishing, Pustet invested in a SigmaLine finishing system from Müller Martini, as well as a Pluton palletizer from Solema, alongside the HP PageWide Web Press T490. With this production line, Pustet is relying on highly automated inline finishing that directly links printing and book block production.