The 15,000sph machine with Inpress Control automated colour and register control will be installed at the company's Kettering site in January 2013.

Managing director Simon Moore said the machine, which features semi-automatic plate changing to reduce makeready time, has been added to the company’s line-up to deal effectively with short-run work.

"Since the introduction of our second web the average run on our sheetfed presses has dropped from 40,000 to 18,000 sheets," said Moore. "So we aren't hung up about speed, but we need a press that makes ready very fast."

Eclipse’s involvement in retail campaigns has also contributed to the fall in its average sheetfed run lengths, with demand for quicker turnaround becoming more common.

The fifth and tenth units on the new 10-colour will primarily be used to apply a seal, thereby enabling jobs to be finished sooner.

Moore said: "There has been a huge change in time-to-market in the past 12 months. The working schedules are a lot leaner and this machine will enable us to get between jobs quicker."

The machine will be joining the company’s two Speedmaster SM 102 12- and 10-colour long perfectors and two Goss web presses. One Goss press has been assigned long-run jobs while the new XL 106 will join the second web press to handle high volumes of short-run work.

Eclipse expects to reach £23m turnover this year, with its recent acquisition of a 10% stake in fellow DM printer 4DM driving sales across the industry, and hopes that the XL 106 will increase that figure by 15% next year. 

Eclipse's Moore added: "It is not all about increasing turnover. It is not the speed of the machine, but the fact that we can produce more work with shorter makeready times. We are working smarter to be more cost-effective."