The new heads will enable integrated label forms to be manufactured with sequential barcodes for e-commerce retailers using Collect+ or Royal Mail returns labels in the UK.
The heads were installed onto the Launceston, Cornwall-based company's Tamarack machines, which it has operated since 1999, around a month ago.
The business researched the market and also looked at heads from a number of other suppliers before deciding to go with Domino, which it first came across at Ipex last year. The total investment cost, including a new sheeter, came to £180,000.
KCS managing director Terrye Teverson said: “We recognised a change in the integrated label market where more carriers were demanding the inclusion of 1D and 2D barcodes.
“The need to include a 2D DataMatrix barcode on all Royal Mail’s tracked 24 and 48 returns labels by the autumn has made this investment even more valuable.”
Account manager Zoe Deadman added that the investment will help the business to secure more work of this nature: “The integrated label market makes up the largest part of our business and we felt that there were certain jobs that we weren’t getting, or even seeing, and that’s because they mainly had Collect+ barcodes in them.
“The head that we’ve gone for is a new design by Domino which has been done in conjunction with Royal Mail specifically to work with the Mailmark market. We’re the first company to use a head of this kind in this way.”
The venture will allow the business to take a plain reel of paper, print it across the full width of the 445mm web, add a silicon patch and adhesive and then die cut the labels before sheeting to A4 or A5, all in one pass.
The inkjet head element is standalone so it can be used in line with the Tamarack lines but can also be pulled out of line for personalisation jobs.
“We’ve spoken to our main brokers about this already and sent out samples and they’ve all been very pleased with the quality and the personalisation that it offers,” said Deadman.
KCS Trade Print also operates Didde Glaser and Morgan web presses, Xerox digital printers, Mimaki and Epson large-format kit and a range of finishing machinery at its 975sqm premises.
The business, which has 29 staff and a turnover of £3m, also produces a variety of general print including stationery, business cards, brochures, posters, calendars, tickets and banners to trade clients throughout the UK.
