The sale took place on the first day of the Chicago-based print exhibition and it will enable the commercial printer to produce faster turnaround times and higher-quality print.

Jon Cummins, president and chief executive of Paramount Performance Marketing, said the press lays a key foundation in the company’s aim to respond to its customer’s changing needs.

He said: We are now able to offer our customers personalised and customised pieces printed on the Rapida 75 that we couldn’t offer before.

The Rapida 75 will give us the ability to produce shorter run lengths as low as 200 pieces that are cost-effective and a higher quality.

The press made its debut at Drupa 08 and has two to eight colours plus a coater, and incorporates some 30 new features that include pneumatic suction sidelays and open inking unit design.

Cummins added the KBA Densitronic S closed-loop colour-management scanning system on a half-sized press is particularly impressive.

This will enable us to have a high level of consistency on all of our jobs as it constantly monitors each job and automates the ink controls to produce a consistently printed piece.

He added the press features big press features in a smaller 6-up format, and that press operations will be more efficient because the company is reducing its press size from a 40 inch model to a 29 inch model.

He said: As the Rapida 75 is seven foot shorter than a competitor’s half-size press, due to its smaller footprint we will be creating less waste, using less paper and in the end, we predict we will significantly reduce our electricity usage.

In the current economy, Cummins said the company is looking to re-tool its equipment and become more efficient so that it is prepared for when the economy picks up.