DLRT started the course of upgrades to its Canon fleet in early 2021. It has used the new equipment to boost capacity and significantly expand the range of personalisation it can offer.
The new VarioPrint 4000 high-speed toner line will run alongside other purchases from the deal with Canon, which so far includes four VarioPrint 6180 Titan black toner printers.
The upgrade in technology, said Peter Thomas, managing director of DLRT, will see the company’s customisation capabilities far outstrip what it could previously manage.
He told Printweek: “[The investment] is allowing us to move from an older technology to one that’s going to be more intuitive and flexible.
“In the past, all we could really do was apply numbering or letters. It was very inflexible, because [the machines] were specifically designed for cheque printing, whereas now what we’ve done is bought machines that provide complete variability - it’s really determined by our own creativity and the information that customers can supply.”
The new printers run on a new programming language, and have entirely different postscript platforms, allowing DLRT to use different font forwards, font types, and images.
Thomas said the business felt comfortable with the Canon kit.
“Not only was it robust, but it provided us with the level of yield and quality we wanted.”
DLRT, which has a turnover of about £2.3m and 22 employees, is part of the Tall Group of secure printers.
Reliability was high on DLRT’s priority list, and with the high volumes it produces, minimising waste was essential.
“What we’re doing is laying down the data. So obviously it’s hugely important that the data is correct, in the right position, is readable, and obviously is presentable,” said Thomas.
The investment itself was backed by the government’s development agency Invest NI.
John Hood, director of multi sector for Invest NI, said that DLRT had recognised that the way consumers use cheques was changing, and had wisely invested in technology that would allow it to build on its security credentials.
He said: “The new machinery will enable it to build a more competitive global position and secure new contacts by enhancing fraud protection and introducing new technologies like the patented QR code based image survivable features.”
