The €6m upgrade includes the first three ColorStream 3900s in the Nordic region, as well as associated pre-press and finishing equipment, and will give Strålfors the capacity to print 500m A4 pages a year.

Two of the three 3000 series presses have already been installed – a 3500 in Finland and a 3700 in Sweden – while a third (another 3700) will be installed in Norway next month.

All three 540mm-wide, twin, roll-to-roll presses, which can print at 127m/min at 600x480dpi or 100m/min at a perceived image quality of 1,200dpi, will be upgraded to the flagship CS3900 in September.

The rest of the spend went on associated equipment, including in-line finishing kit from OEM partner Hunkeler, rewinders from Lasermax, and GMG Inspire and Prisma Production software from Océ.

The ColorStream 3900 installed in Strålfors’ native Sweden also features inline dynamic perforating from Technau, while Océ is also providing colour management training to the company’s sales force.

Strålfors’ group production director Johanna Starck said the €291m turnover printer had thoroughly researched its options before committing to Océ.

"We looked into it very carefully because there are a lot of vendors, taking different approaches, and not all coming to market at the same time," she said.

"After long consideration, we decided Océ’s was the best platform for quality, productivity and total cost of ownership".

Ville Hilmola, transactional print production director at the 1,500-staff print group, added that the reliability of the group’s first CS3500, installed in Finland last November, was also key.

"We had only two unscheduled call-outs and those were right after the installation," said Starck. "For the past five months we haven’t had any, and for digital printing that is really very good."