The Warwick-based POS specialist was acquired by Swanline Print in May last year, and the circa-£500,000 Indigo will enable both it and its parent company to expand the range of services they can offer.
“When Four Create was acquired last year, it was with the goal to expand both its own and Swanline’s offering," said Swanline head of group marketing Naomi Martin.
"By bringing small-format work in-house, it increases the capabilities of what can be done on jobs, as well as reducing costs and lead times for our clients.
“With attributes like the additional spot colours and metallic inks, and its ability to take heavier substrates, we can add a lot of complexity to the jobs our clients ask for.
“It is part of a wider investment in the business, and we are now looking at ideas on how to target new types of business and offer different types of printing – we can do shorter runs and more personalisation due to the data capabilities of the Indigo, while being able to have conversations with and take on work from some smaller businesses.”
The Indigo 7900 was installed in July and can print at up to 160 A4 ppm in a maximum of seven colours and resolutions up to 2,438dpi. Its varied substrate capabilities will potentially add applications such as mugs and pens to Four Create and Swanline’s offerings.
Four Create also hired an additional member of staff, who previously worked with Indigos at the now-defunct SP Group, to run the press.
The Indigo follows the installation of an HP Latex 3200, which was taken on for £250,000 as its “vibrancy of colour and eco-friendliness” enhanced elements already in Four Create’s offering, according to Martin.
Four Create is also taking on a range of new ancillary equipment, largely to be sourced through HP due to the company’s “positive relationship” with the manufacturer.
Its existing kit line-up includes 2.5m- and 1.6m-wide printers from Durst, a Heidelberg Cylinder, two Kongsberg digital cutters and a guillotine.
The company currently employs around 30 members of staff on its 1,160sqm premises and has a projected turnover of £3m-£4m.
