The company, which specialises in commercial print and magazine production, will consolidate four smaller units into a 4,412sqm facility in Reydon, eight miles from its existing Halesworth operation.

As part of the move, Micropress is replacing one its Heidelberg Speedmaster presses, a four-colour SM 102, with an eight-colour Speedmaster XL 105-8-P, which is the company's first long perfector.

In addition, Micropress has ordered two Inpress Control spectrophotometers and its second stitching line, a Stitchmaster ST 450 to boost flexibility within its bindery.

Mike Cross, founder of Micropress, said the company's new facility will help promote efficiency throughout the business when it goes live in January next year.

He said: "The 47,500 sq ft factory is one open space which will give us a much better workflow than we can achieve with the higgledy piggledy collection of buildings we have now."

The company's new Speedmaster XL 105-8-P complements an existing XL setup, which comprises an XL 105-5 and an XL 75-5 that has already been fitted with Inpress Control technology.

Its new press will be installed with two Inpress Controls, one for each side of the sheet, to help cut makeready times and increase press output. Micropress has also specified Autoplate XL simultaneous plate changing to further improve efficiency.

Cross said: "Our nationwide customers welcome our policy of on-going investment in the latest and best technology.

"The press and spectrophotometer in tandem help us maintain our top quality reputation and to be responsive because we reduce makeready times significantly. We also minimise start up waste which has both environmental and cost benefits."

In addition to an expanded press setup, Micropress will install a second saddle-stitcher, a six-station Stitchmaster ST 450 to complement an existing Muller Martini Prima stich and trim line.

According to Cross, the rationale behind this investment was two-fold in terms of capacity and business continuity.

"No one could face the prospect of being without a stitcher during the factory transfer but the real clincher was that the existing machine is running to absolute capacity and a second machine will give us greater flexibility and the potential for growth," he said.


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