The Basingstoke-based print and mailing house replaced an old laser printing device with the 150ppm colour inkjet.

Managing director Leigh Foster said the buy came about after discussions with long-standing technology partner Altodigital. 

“They suggested we look at Kyocera and at the end of last year we went to Amsterdam to see it,” he explained.

“It’s our first production inkjet and it’s an excellent machine. The quality is exceptional, it’s equivalent to litho. Our print manager is an ex-litho printer and he says the quality is absolutely fantastic.”

The TASKalfa Pro 15000c was installed earlier this year, and has been put to good use during lockdown for clients including Housing Associations and charities.

“We’ve put quite a bit of work through it. We used to outsource around £150,000-worth of print a year, such as letterheads that we’d then personalise. Now we’ve brought most of that in-house and can do it all in one pass and at speed,” he explained.

Foster said another added benefit was the TASKalfa’s ability to print onto envelopes.

“We can handle short-run envelope printing with runs of 5,000-6,000, including window envelopes because it runs at low temperature.”

The TASKalfa Pro 15000c prints 150ppm simplex at 600dpi and handles paper sizes from A6 to SRA3, and stock weights from 56gsm to 360gsm.

Foster said the circa £200,000 investment represented a “fantastic deal” and said the press had been a third of the price of some of the alternatives the firm looked at.

“It’s been great for us and has brought in profitable growth.”

The new inkjet runs alongside the firm’s Ricoh 8110 and a twin-engine Xerox Nuvera producing mono work.

Document Despatch has also upgraded its Planet Press software for automated document workflow and document composition.

The firm produces marketing and transactional print with typical run lengths varying from 10,000 up to around 60,000.

Kyocera Document Solutions UK CEO Rod Tonna-Barthet commented: “We at Kyocera are delighted to see Document Despatch through our valued partner Altodigital experience such success as the first UK business to purchase our new inkjet printer.

“Document Despatch is hugely ambitious in its plans for growth, so the company needed a printer that could deliver the high volumes, while still maintaining quality and a commitment to reduced carbon consumption.”

Document Despatch also has a separate pick, pack and fulfilment operation in Marlowe.

Foster said the £4m turnover, 40 staff business had, like many others, seen some of its work affected by the Covid-19 pandemic with volumes currently around 30% down on last year and some staff still on furlough. 

Kyocera launched a raft of new production machines, including the Pro 15000c, at the end of last year.