The Scitex, which was ordered in April, was installed two weeks ago, in Caps’ new 230sqm digital facility, which was built specifically to house it.

Caps managing director Trevor Bissett said delivery of the new press had been put back to accommodate for a delay in the facility's construction.

He described the machine, which costs from €1,150,000 (£966,000), as a "significant investment". 

Bissett said: “We investigated all the options and had a look around at a couple of different providers. 

“As it was our first venture into digital, we felt that HP would be the best people to hold our hands through that and give us the support we need to get up-and-running.

“It’s very flexible in terms of the size of media that it can handle. That was the main selling point. The speed was quite attractive as well as the ability to slow that speed down and achieve really high-quality results when the job needs it.”

The Scitex is currently operating at speeds of around 500-600sqm/hr. It takes a variety of different media up to 25mm thick, at sizes up to 1.6x3.2m. It prints in six colours, cyan, magenta, yellow, black, light cyan and light magenta.

Bissett said the digital option would add far more flexibility to the Newmarket, Suffolk-based company's output, which was previously a flexo-only outfit, mainly relying on its three-colour TCY 8pa flexo post-printer. He believes the Scitex can have a real impact on production.

 “We wanted to find a way that we could produce the high-quality element of our flexo work more efficiently. We looked for a solution to those awkward jobs that take a lot of time to set but not much time to run. We are hoping it will open up new doors for us.

"We’re not actively out there promoting it as a POS machine, but certainly it has the capability to do more of that type of work,” he said. 

Other than the new Scitex and the TCY, Caps also runs a variety of equipment including two Casemaker Curioni folder-gluers and a rotary die-cutter.

The £19.5m-turnover company is looking to increase turnover by the end of this financial year in line with its current rate of around 4% a year. It employs around 200 staff.

Bissett is excited by the prospect of the new digital facility, and the ability for clients to see the Scitex in action from the meeting room above.

“I’m hoping it will be more attractive to people who come in for meetings and will now have the space to work and watch how their job is running. We think it is going to turn people on to the possibilities of digital.”