Up and running within a week after it was installed in March, the new machine is already printing at full capacity, running 24 hours a day.
“It’s been quite successful,” managing director Matthew Plant told Printweek.
“We had some pretty meaty projects lined up straight away, so we were trying textured work as soon as it had been installed.
“The SwissQprint is very, very capable, producing high-end products, but actually runs at a really good speed as well, especially on multi-layered work. It has allowed us to be far more efficient and continue our growth in the [packaging] space.”
Based just south of Banbury, the company begun its move into packaging in 2020 with its purchase of a Mimaki JFX-200EX; four years later, the company had outgrown this “brilliant starting machine”.
At 206sqm/hr production, the Nyala is “considerably faster”, running around three times the speed of the Mimaki, Plant said.
Running the machine at full capacity immediately has given Banbury scope for further investment to support growth: next, Plant says, might be a new digital cutting table to join Banbury’s existing Kongsberg.
“Obviously what we need to do is give it some time, to see how the land lies in six months’ time – but, of course, this is an area we’ve had success in, so if it needs further investment then that’s what we’ll do,” he said, adding “we’ll be heading out to Drupa next week”.
Banbury’s move into packaging was part of a diversification strategy that has also seen the firm introduce creative design and cardboard engineering to its service portfolio alongside traditional and digital print.
Running two Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 75s, one LED and one conventional, a sheetfed Xerox Versant and Heidelberg Linoprint digital machines alongside the Nyala and a variety of finishing equipment, the company is equipped to deal with a rounded portfolio of work.
This diversification, Plant said, has helped the company grow even through the rough times of the pandemic and rapid inflation.
He said: “We’ll finish our financial year in May, and compared to pre-Covid we’re up 45% [turnover]: I think that’s pretty successful considering the trauma every business has been through in Covid and the electricity crisis.”
Banbury Litho employs 40 staff, and will have turned over around £5.2m in the 12 months to May 2024.
