The new large-format six-colour Rapida 162a with double coater cost £3.5m and is the biggest sheetfed press installation by KBA for several years in the UK.

"It's a great piece of kit," said CRP managing director Eddie Fellows. "It's tried and proven for the packaging sector. Quality control is second to none."

The machine is an addition to existing litho and digital kit at the firm's base in Corby, Northamptonshire. The 175-staff company turns over more than £20m and is expanding.

"Both our litho packaging and point-of-sale display businesses have grown at tremendous rates for the past three years," said Fellows.

"We reached the stage where to support that growth we needed to invest in more capacity. We have more investment planned and have won contracts."

Fellows said the litho offset printed sheets would be incorporated into litho packaging or sale materials such as stands for Gillette razors in Boots.

It will turn out 15,000 sheets an hour and be used for boxes for Constellation Wine or point-of-sale material for Procter & Gamble, Nestle and Unilever products.

"Brands constantly compete for retailer and consumer attention, and print is not just visual, but tactile. Its quality affects the message in the same way body language influences conversation," added Fellows.

KBA UK managing director Christian Knapp said: "We have been working with CRP to ensure every element of the introduction of the press is as smooth as possible from staff training and knowledge right down to the recommended consumables."

Features include a QualiTronic inline detection system that provides a camera system, which scans each sheet with a 3m-pixel resolution, matching for quality against a master sheet.

In addition, the Rapida 162a is specified with a system of IR/hot-air dryers called VariDryBlue, launched at Ipex, which dry high-gloss coatings using less power.