The Rotherham-based Bluetree Group subsidiary confirmed the deal this morning (4 September) and is anticipating delivery of the innovative B1 machine in early 2019.
First unveiled at Drupa 2012, the Landa S10P uses Benny Landa’s revolutionary nanographic printing technology. Claimed benefits include the ability to print purer colours in a gamut beyond traditional CMYK. Landa will work closely with Route One to integrate the S10P into the firm’s MIS.
Route One has been in discussions with Landa about its developing technology for around two years, with managing director Adam Carnell being “incredibly impressed” on first viewing of the S10P perfecting model, citing its “sharpness and colour” due to the nanographic inks and tiny dot size.
Speaking to PrintWeek in 2016 following the installation of an HP Indigo 10000, Carnell said: “Over the next five years, I think Landa will really start to take off.”
He said he hopes it will “enable an accelerated shift from the print-to-warehouse model to a print-on-demand practice”. Initially, Route One will use the press to produce book covers for stitched and perfect-bound products as well as short- to medium-run flyers and folded leaflets.
“Firstly, what attracted us to Landa was the quality of the print and then, of course, the flexibility it can offer as a digital press,” said Carnell. “The Landa S10P will enable the shift to a print-on-demand model because of the quality and flexibility it offers.
“Internally, we use the phrase ‘determining the future of print’ and we feel the innovative technology within the Landa S10P really supports that vision. We are very excited about the press arriving and even more so about being the UK’s first.
“We have been working closely with Landa to enable bespoke integration of their systems with ours. We are very confident that the installation will be extremely smooth.”
Landa Digital Printing chief executive Yishai Amir described the Route One team as "building a fantastic business".
"The Landa S10P and Route One Print are a perfect match, with a shared passion for innovation. I look forward to a long and successful relationship," he said.
The S10P is an expansion of Route One’s existing printing technology portfolio, which also includes four Xerox iGens, two HP Scitex 11000 flatbeds, a Fujifilm Jet Press 720 and a 10-colour B2 Speedmaster from Heidelberg. It will result in ongoing recruitment and training at the firm.
The Landa deal represents part of a major spending drive for Route One in 2018, kicked off with a £1.3m Screen TruePress Jet 520HD in May – and more machines are on the way.
Route One currently employs 319 members of staff and has a projected 2018 turnover of £42m. It dispatches around 1,000 jobs a day from its 9,290sqm South Yorkshire base.
Landa’s S10P covers up to 95% of Pantones, capable of running OGB on top of standard four-colour, potentially eliminating the need to create spot colours. It prints double-sided at a rate up to 6,500 B1 sheets an hour.
Edelmann in Germany was the first site in Europe to take on a Landa S10 B1 inkjet press, with the machine arriving for beta testing in February.
When the technology was first revealed by Benny Landa in 2012, Drupa visitors predicted the Indigo founder will “be talked of alongside Gutenberg for reinventing print twice”.
