The machine, which was supplied by ASL Group, completed installation last Monday (15 April) and represented an investment of £105,000 for Apprintable.
Launched last year, the Ricoh Pro C9500 can print up to 115ppm as standard or 135ppm with a field speed upgrade, and can handle substrate weights ranging from 40-470gsm.
Apprintable managing director Peter Haddad told Printweek: “We’ve been growing fairly rapidly. We had a Xerox Versant 280 before and then in May last year we took on a Ricoh Pro C9100 that was nearing end of life but was put in to just get us through the winter.
“We then had a bit of a growth spurt in November and December and we decided that we had to get a replacement so that we could come into this year ready to run.”
He added: “We looked around the market but the decision was really based on volume and capacity, and with anything else we looked at we would have hit the capacity of the lifecycle of the machine by the end of this year or the beginning of next, based on where we are going with our volumes.
“With the Pro C9500 we can go up to a million clicks. The capacity is higher than everything else we looked at, the cost of the click is cheaper, and it’s just ridiculously quick. We can also now keep even more jobs in-house than before, we now outsource virtually nothing.”
The business is processing jobs ranging from flyers and business cards to posters and booklets on the new printer, producing work for customers in hospitality, drinks, events, and nightlife.
Apprintable has worked with ASL Group before, having previously bought its Xerox Versant 280 through the reseller, and Haddad praised the “great help and advice” provided by his ASL Group contact Paul Stead.
The Ricoh Pro C9100, which had been taken on only as a temporary rental, has now been moved out while the Xerox Versant 280 has been retained.
The new Ricoh Pro C9500 has also joined a Ricoh Pro C5300 as well as a Mimaki CJV330-160 eco-solvent printer with X-Y cutter and specialist garment printing kit from Epson, Schulze, and Sefa on its wide-format side.
Last year the company installed a Morgana Systems BM4050 bookletmaker, complete with VFX dual bin feeder, and an EBA Ideal 56 guillotine.
Among a raft of other finishing kit, it also operates a VeloBlade Volta 64+ digital die-cutter from Vivid Laminating Technologies, a Morgana 450 Pro laminator, and an Aerocut Prime auto cutter/slitter/creaser/perforator. It will next consider investment in a new creaser/folder, and calendar punching kit.
Apprintable moved to larger premises in 2022 to continue its growth and is now housed in a 279sqm leased site in an industrial part of Wembley.
The business, which was established in 2015 and is celebrating its ninth birthday this week, employs 10 staff and has a current turnover of £1m. It is targeting around 20-25% growth for the new financial year following its latest investment.
