CPI signed up to be one of the world's first beta test sites for the revolutionary HP press at last summer's Drupa.
UK chief executive Mike Taylor said the system was currently undergoing test production of gathered book blocks prior to installation and that it would now be heading for the continent rather than Wiltshire.
"It's going to France as we have a more pressing need for digital capacity there at present. Antony Rowe now has two fully operational Xerox Sedona webs, going on to triple shift shortly, giving us all the digital capacity CPI UK needs at present."
Meanwhile, St Ives has quietly put together what group technical director John Charnock described as "one of the first really integrated digital book production systems - paper in, books out".
At the heart of the system, set to be installed at Bungay-based Clays in September, is a Kodak Versamark VL6000 black-and-white inkjet printing system linked to a Muller Martini Sigma automated binding line.
The two machines will effectively operate as one unit. Book covers will be produced offline using a HP Indigo 5500, with inline UV coating, but the Sigma's
barcode reader ensures the correct cover is selected for each job.
Clays already produces runs as low as 250 books on its litho presses, but Charnock said the new digital system would not be limited to short runs.
"It could be one book, or 1,000 - it doesn't matter," he said.
St Ives also has the option to upgrade to Kodak's Prosper range, which uses Stream inkjet technology, subject to performance.
CPI to install HP Inkjet Web in France as Clays integrates digital lines
CPI has said its new HP Inkjet Web will now be installed in France rather than at Antony Rowe as originally planned, while St Ives Clays is to install its first integrated digital book production system.
