Graham Backhouse, sales and marketing director for Amberley Labels said the company’s success with its existing HP WS6000 and WS4500 presses and the growing demand for shorter lead times were the reasons for the investment.

"We first bought an HP digital printer in 2003 and we’ve bought one of each generation since. As a result the business has grown so we needed the WS6600 to keep up," he said.

The roll-fed digital press can print more than 40m per minute in full colour and incorporates an in-line priming unit (ILP), which primes and prints substrates in a single pass. This company said it also intended to retrofit its WS6000 press with an ILP unit.

Backhouse said ILP improved the quality of Amberley Labels’ products and freed up its conventional presses.

"The faster you print after applying the primer the better for the quality," he said. "It also means we don’t have to use our conventional presses for the priming process, so they’re left free for other jobs," he added.

The £5.3m turnover, 58 staff company installed the WS6600 earlier this month. The new press has allowed Amberley to significantly increase the length of its runs before crossing over to conventional printing.

Backhouse said the company was now considering the option of moving into non-self adhesive labels. "With the new printers we are able to print films, print sleeves and cartons, so that’s a possibility for the future," he said.Tweet