The Bradford-based business has invested around £1.3m in the secondhand press, which has been supplied by Itec Graphic Machinery and will be installed in the first week of November.

The machine has replaced an existing Speedmaster CD 102 six-colour plus coater, which Itec has taken in part exchange.

“Our CD 102 proved very beneficial for us. However, it was starting to show its age due to slower makeready times and we were interested in the faster makeready times made possible by Inpress Control 2,” said manager Farid Malik.

“Now, we can take on more short runs which we were rejecting earlier, especially short run booklets. The increased speed to 18,000 sheets per hour will also help us shorten lead times and increase productivity by as much as 40% according to our calculations.

“We also considered a CX 102 but this investment made more sense for the kind of work we do.”

Print Plus UK also runs a Speedmaster XL 75 eight-colour perfector and a Xerox Versant 80 while its finishing roster includes two fully integrated Polar guillotines, a Muller Martini six-station stitching line, five folders and in-house laminating.

It also operates specialist kit including a B2 die-cutter, flitter and insertion lines for the production of greetings cards.

Print Plus UK has 31 staff and turns over £3m from its 1,290sqm premises. It serves sectors including charities and hospitality as well as the trade.

“We will next be investing in some finishing equipment including a short run stitcher from Horizon to improve efficiency in short-run booklets,” said Malik.

“We are also looking to diversify ourselves in the short to medium run packaging sector in 2019.”