The Austrian Post subsidiary has taken delivery of four of the mono continuous inkjet heads, which are on course for a market launch in early 2010. Austrian Post is the leading provider of mail shipping services in Austria.

The Stream continuous inkjet technology is claimed to offer speed, quality and overall print costs that are on a par with offset printing. The new additions will complement multiple Kodak Versamark printheads.

Achim Groth, production manager for finishing at Meiller Direct, said: "We demand the highest quality in our print materials and the benefits offered by Kodak’s Stream Printheads are enormous – much sharper type, finer details, and better rendering of grey levels."

Meiller Direct, which employs 1,200 people across seven sites, produces several million pieces of direct mail, catalogues and other personalised print each day.

The company has a customer base that spans the retail, automotive banking and insurance industries.

Kevin Joyce, worldwide vice president for sales and marketing of digital printing solutions at Kodak, said the Stream printhead "opens up new business opportunities for print service providers by enabling high-speed variable-data printing with offset-class output".