The new press, which was delivered to the firm’s 6,317sqm Howden factory in December, joins other equipment at the site including other Inca large-format flatbed printers and a range of Durst and HP machinery.

The group also operates B1 sheetfed litho and screen printing equipment at its Willerby site and small-format digital kit at its Brighton site.

The business looked at alternatives from a range of manufacturers but said it chose the X3 because of the machine’s speed, quality and flexibility.

The company has been an Inca customer since 2004 and has used the manufacturer’s Columbia Turbo machines, the Onset S70 and the Onset R40i over this period.

The Onset X3, which was launched in October, can print up to 900sqm/hr and 180 beds/hr. It can handle substrates in sizes up to 3.2x1.6m and thicknesses up to 50mm and can be used to produce fast-turnaround retail graphics requiring distance viewing as well as high-quality images for close-up viewing.

Imagedata Group’s managing director for the retail sector Paul Price said: “This machine has significantly added to our already impressive capacity and means we can achieve a much faster speed to market for our clients.

“The new press is twice as quick as our previous fastest machines and makeready times will be drastically reduced, thanks to the 25-zone vacuum table that eliminates the need for masking.

He added: “This ongoing investment is crucial to enabling us to future-proof our clients’ ever changing service requirements and allows us to offer both existing clients and potential new partners an unrivalled level of in-house production capacity and service.”

Imagedata Group, which was founded in 1982, has 230 staff and a turnover of £22m. The business produces items including POS and display materials for a number of major retailers as well as corporate and public sectors.