The new press, commissioned in March 2023, is the latest in a 16-year relationship with Canon that has seen the printer buy, over the years, a VarioPrint C8000 colour toner and three mono VarioPrints, the 6200 Ultra, 6250 Ultra, and a 6220 Titan.

Latest to go in, the iX has helped refine margins – with approximately 5% savings on consumables – and has quadrupled 4edge’s colour production capacity with no additional staff requirements.

David Button, 4edge’s managing director, told Printweek that the firm had already seen productivity benefits, though the machine had not yet been put through its paces.

He said: “It’s been really good. There were some teething issues from our perspective, learning the machine, but it has been fine.

“We haven’t really given it that ‘balls to the wall’ sort of testing yet, because we’re still developing the market – we operate a double day here, so we’re only using it on a single shift, and we can do things more methodically.”

The iX, a substantial machine at 8.8m long and eight tonnes of weight, required more space than 4edge’s Hockley production site had – fortunately, the firm had been planning an expansion since before Covid, adding 400sqm onto its 600sqm facility.

4edge employs 20, turning over around £2m annually.