The web-to-print specialist has just posted another set of stellar results, with sales up by just over 15% to £14.2m and operating margins increasing to 37.7% in the year to 30 September 2023.
The latest buys follow a string of significant investments this year that included its first production inkjet device, a Durst Tau RSC-E for label printing.
During his visit to Drupa managing director Jon Lancaster also assessed the sheetfed inkjet market and came down in favour of Canon’s offering.
Canon announced the 8,700sph B2-plus varioPress iV7 at Drupa, with the new device set to become commercially available at the end of next year.
The SRA3-plus/B3-format varioPrint iX3200 sheetfed inkjet has established a significant market presence since the iX-series was launched in 2020.
“I looked into it at Drupa, and I’ve also been over to Canon’s facility in Venlo where I had a proper demonstration on the iX3200 and also saw the iV7 in R&D,” explained Printed Easy managing director Jon Lancaster, who said he had done “tonnes of research” before making the decision.
“I can see that Canon has really concentrated on paper handling and uptime, along with the productivity and quality we need as a busy online printer,” he said.
“The iV7 is landscape-fed, very fast and will deliver a big increase in speed for us. And the build quality is very good.”
The iX3200, which prints SRA3 duplex sheets at 4,560sph, and simplex at up to 6,000sph, will arrive at Printed Easy’s 4,000sqm Letchworth Garden City facility in late September, with some older equipment likely to be retired subsequently.
The firm runs multiple HP Indigo digital presses including SRA3, narrow web and B2 models, and a six-colour Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 106 B1 litho press.
The timeline for the arrival of the iV7 has not yet been disclosed, but the firm appears likely to become one of the first customers in Europe.
Printed Easy is also poised to launch its new on-demand hardback book service, which Lancaster believes will be unique in terms of the options and turnaround times available for online purchasers.
“I’m excited about it and enjoying the development, it’s going really well. We’re going to launch the options in early August, and be in production by the end of the summer holidays,” he said.
Lancaster said he believed there was also an opportunity to win back work currently being printed abroad with the new offering.
“No-one’s doing it online with this level of customisation,” he added.
Printed Easy employs 57 and Lancaster expects further growth this year, with the business tracking for sales of £15.7m.
