Printforce’s VarioPrint iX 3200 sheetfed press was installed this month, with training taking place this week. Its arrival followed the installation of the web-fed ColorStream 8000 in May.
The firm specialises in short-run and on-demand magazines, journals and books in a zero-warehouse model. It has a longstanding partnership with Canon, with the new machines joining a cut-sheet VarioPrint i300 colour inkjet press and an imageRunner C3700 A3 colour laser printer.
The two new presses are set to dramatically boost the company’s production capacity, with the Colorstream’s addition alone boosting speeds from 75 to 133 metres per minute, while cutting waste.
Printforce – both across its 100-person Dutch operation and its 40-person UK site – focuses heavily on short runs of 1–2,000 copies, capitalising on the zero-warehousing model of digital production.
The UK operation, launched in 2019 with a soft cover production line, has grown steadily since its inception and can now effectively ‘skip’ shipping costs and times by printing in the UK.
Printing on demand for runs of as little as one book is both rewarding and demanding, according to Rombout Eikelenboom, managing partner of the UK operation.
He told Printweek: “It’s important, but it’s difficult as well.
“You need all the machines cooperating, and we have been investing in equipment a lot to get that flexible. You have to be very efficient in your equipment and your processes, especially since we specialise in hardcover books.”
For single issues of hardcovers in particular, the finishing line would present a challenge, especially with jobs mixed in together – the firm, however, also invested in a pair of Horizon BQ-500 perfect binding lines, with one in the Netherlands and one in the UK, which can handle both hard and soft covers simultaneously.
The group’s investment comes as part of concerted effort towards expansion.
“We want to continue to grow here [in the UK],” Eikelenboom said.
“That’s what we want, and that’s what we’re here for.”
Printforce turns over around €21m (£18.3m) in the Netherlands, with UK operations surpassing £5m in sales.
CB Printforce is unconnected to Bury, Lancashire-based commercial printer Printforce.
