The Reydon-based business completed a major investment round last year, but since then has also added an Autobond laminator and embellishment line and Muller Martini Primera stitcher, as well as a new customer dashboard facility.
Now the company is upping the ante by investing some £3.75m in a raft of new equipment, with the centrepiece a highly-specified 18,000sph ten-colour Heidelberg Speedmaster XL106 with Push-to-Stop technology.
The spend also includes an additional top-of-the-range Stahl TH 82-P high-speed folder with Palamides delivery and robotic P-Stacker, which will give Micropress the extra folding capacity required to match the expanded printing setup.
The Speedmaster will replace an older five-colour XL106, and the resulting beefed up press hall will house three long perfectors: the new ten-colour alongside two eight-colour XL106s, plus a B2 five-colour XL75.
Micropress director Rob Cross told Printweek: “We are building for the future. The new ten-colour should give us about 15% extra capacity. It’s our first ten-colour and first 18,000sph press. You’ve got to invest to stay competitive, and it’s a good time to re-invest and look at the business and the growth we want to achieve.”
The investment is self-funded.
Cross said the firm had experienced “a busy few months” that included producing some work that would previously have been printed web offset, due to the capacity issues in that part of the market.
“We have definitely seen a surge in longer-run work,” he added.
Micropress offers a range of commercial printing services under one roof from its 6,500sqm supersite encompassing litho and digital printing and comprehensive in-house finishing.
The firm’s product offering spans magazines and catalogues, brochures and leaflets, books, and direct mail.
Cross said the five-colour XL106 would be taken out in early January, followed by some works to the floor prior to the installation of the ten-colour which is set to be up and running by the end of February.
“We have plenty of space here but we’re filling it up rapidly at the moment!” he said.
Cross said the firm continued to look at other opportunities to automate, with a current project focused on its 1,500sqm paper warehouse where it holds £1.5m-worth of stock.
He said the customer dashboard announced in October was “going really well”.
“We have made some modifications for customers so it’s evolving all the time which is positive. There is a lot of capability with it and we have some big plans for it next year which will help further with efficiency and automation. Watch this space.”
Cross said sales at the circa 160-strong firm had bounced back this year after last year’s pandemic-impacted results, and he expected turnover would pass the £20m mark in 2022.
