The new software, which is the result of a partnership between the three companies, will be debuted at Heidelberg's open house event on 9 and 10 February at Tamworth.

Red Tie’s online portal captures and submits order information to Tharstern's MIS system, which then calculates both practicality and the cost benefits of bunching orders together. These are then submitted to the production area of the system.

Heidelberg's Prinect software then handles prepress, press and finishing functions for set up and control when required. Production data that includes a cost per copy analysis of each web-to-print job is then returned to the Tharstern MIS.

Liz Gilmour, head of international sales at Red Tie, said the system is both robust and easy to use.

She said: "Heidelberg can now fulfil the customer demand for web-to-print solutions and we will oversee the consultation and integration stages.

"Embracing the internet in this way allows printers to generate new business from currently unknown sources, make it even easier for existing customers to place orders and reduce the overall cost of generating sales."

Lance O’Connell, business manager of Prinect and CtP at Heidelberg, said the launch of the product arrives at a time where the industry is entering "the age of closed loop manufacturing".

"It’s thanks to brilliant teamwork that we have progressed so far and so fast and this is not the end of the road," he said.

The open house takes place at the Tamworth showroom on 9 and 10 February running from 9.30am to 4pm. The event will feature live demonstrations, seminars and consultancy available to visiting companies.