The print and mail company took delivery of the single-engine duplex machine at its Harlow site and is anticipating a low unit print cost, especially on high pagination documents.

Managing director Gerald White said: "We are at the start of a revolution for short-run digital book printing – it's comparable to when the print industry moved from hot metal to litho."

The Nipson VaryPress 200 SED will enable Berforts to print on a range of coated stocks that includes plastics, polyester, foils, thermal sensitive and carbonless stocks.

John MacFarlane, general manager at Nipson, said: "The Nipson VaryPress range of printers allows our customers to be extremely cost competitive on print runs of up to 2,000 books. It's a very efficient, flexible and high-quality method for printing digital books or brochures."

Nipson's VaryPress 200 SED can print up to 70m a minute and, in duplex mode, can output a 215mm print line on a web up to 252mm wide.

This allows for letter-sized and A4-sized documents to be printed on both sides by the single print engine.

White said: "Nipson's professional and personal service, pre and post installation, has been excellent. Although my operators now complain that the printer is extremely boring as it never breaks down."