The five-colour press with coater is due to be delivered in May to the company’s Peterborough site.
Fisherprint is also planning to buy a used B1 two-colour Speedmaster perfector and has upgraded its Konica Minolta bizhub press.
Chief executive Miles Fisher said: “We haven't chosen a model for the two-colour kit but it will be a lightly raced used model with low-impression count. We replaced a KM 8000 machine with a more up-to-date KM three weeks ago.”
The 45-staff company expects to add £1m to the firm's £5m turnover within 18 months following the upgrade.
“We are in the multi-page, medium-run market and we needed to improve makeready times so investment was essential,” said Fisher.
The new Heidelberg will trim makeready times from 20 to 45 minutes to between eight and 10 minutes depending on the complexity of the job, he added.
The CX 102 will replace two older presses, a 1998 Speedmaster CD 102-6 and a 2007 Speedmaster CD102-6+L and produce print such as spine-glue booklets for healthcare and pharma sectors.
“We are not a low-cost manufacturing organisation; we produce high-quality, complex products, much of them on very lightweight papers down to 45gsm,” Fisher said.
With the addition of AxisControl and Autoplate Pro the company anticipates the CX 102 will lead to a 30% increase in output, which will in turn create new jobs.
Fisher expects to run the new press 24/6, where previously the company ran 24/5, with the seventh day available for overtime as demand dictates.
He opted for Axis Control because much of the company’s work is colour and copy critical and he wanted an off-press check by minders that could detect, for instance, a nick in the plate.
He said the spectral device, which measures and controls colour colourmetrically and can 'read' and 'learn' Pantone colour, was good for repeat work.
Combined with Autoplate Pro, Fisher said makereadies would be “significantly reduced” and for Fisherprint this, rather than the rated speed of 16,500sph, was key.
The company also appreciates the CX's Venturi air-transfer system and tapered roller bearer units for speedy but smooth sheet transport.
When Fisherprint last invested, demand for six-colour work was high, but an analysis of throughput in the last six months showed it had reduced. For the small number that remained it did not justify the purchase of a sixth printing unit.
