The systems have been fitted to four 72pp Manroland Lithoman web presses, although colour systems manager Nigel Westlake said that it would be possible for any of the company's presses to use the machine.

BGP invested in the systems after one of its largest customers, Bauer Media, had called for a soft-proofing option.

Since its install in early August, BGP has been surveying customers that have visited the site to see the system. Already half of the 10 that visited have switched to soft proofing only, while the other five also said they would trust the soft-proofing option if they needed to.

Westlake said: "We don't have to rely on the customer's proof to turn up. We know now that if a proof is late we can go ahead with the job. It will help iron out niggly problems and help improve our efficiencies.

"One customer uses a yellow paper that was not in the system - we were able to create a profile for that paper, so now even they can view their job on screen. Bauer pushed for us to use this and already they are over the moon with it."

BGP also signed up to Manroland’s ProServ service and support package, which provides BGP with 24/7 remote diagnostics and monitoring; a monthly press performance assessment and regular planned maintenance.