Howard Hunt invested in its first Xerox iGen4 in September last year, replacing a five-year-old Kodak Nexpress, as part of a 12-month £3.5m investment strategy in its digital division.

General manager of digital printing Simon Currid said the decision to invest in a second was "pretty simple" after seeing the results of its first.

"We are so pleased, they are incredibly reliable, our up-time is now at about 96% on a 24-5 shift pattern."

Currid said that both printers were specified with Xerox’s Matte Dry Ink because they wanted to create a look for its short-run insert work, among other jobs, that was "nearer to litho and not the glossy look of digital print", which he said was an industry-wide problem.

The 364x660mm sheet size of the iGen4 also allowed the business to be more flexible and responsive to its clients needs while saving waste and time, Currid said.

The company had chosen not to go for the iGen 150, despite its increased speed over the iGen4, simply because "the 150 wasn’t really tried and tested when we wanted to invest", he explained.

"We felt that when we came to get the second it would be a seamless transition if we stuck to the same model and that is exactly what it has proved to be."

However, he said that the company had visited the Xerox showroom this week to look at the iGen150 with the potential of an investment in the near future.

"We are looking to grow our digital print arm by another 20% over the financial year which would bring us to £4.8m for the year and our output, including our two Xeikon 8000s, to around 8m A4 impressions per month," he added.

Howard Hunt is currently beta-testing a Kodak Prosper 5000XLi. The 5000 was installed in May 2011 and upgraded in February this year.

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