Comprising of packaging printer Delga, digital labels firm Delga Labels, commercial printer Scarbutts and specialist commercial printer CSP, Meliora will fold its operations inside its 4,100sqm Rochester headquarters, Delga’s current site of operations.
While the group’s brands will maintain their individual identities, the move will help each work with each other, cutting out logistical inefficiencies.
“We’re making ourselves very agile, very fit for purpose as we go into a new era,” said Meliora managing director Ian Conetta.
He told Printweek that the move was intended to form a “very, very strong” business.
“This is not a headcount reduction exercise: we very much need the workforce that we have; we believe that being under one roof gives us the flexibility and agility to be fit for purpose in a multittude of sectors.
“Running across two sites brings administrative and operational issues, and it has done for probably the 40-50 years that we’ve been trading. We’re all very much looking forward to being under one roof.”
Meliora is supporting the shift with several installations across the group. First in was a B2 HP Indigo 15000, replacing Delga’s Indigo 12000, which was one of the first installed in the UK.
The new press, capable of resolutions up to 812dpi, can run at up to 3,450sph simplex or 1,725sph in duplex. It arrived in early May 2024, starting production "pretty much straight away." The old 12000, having run alongside the 15000 for a month-long handover period, was packed off on 4 June after six years' service.
When Delga installed the 12000, the firm modified it to take heavy substrates up to 550 micron in duplex; the trade-off was that it could not handle anything less than 140.
This in turn meant that Delga couldn’t support CSP’s lighter substrate work on its Indigo 7900s.
“We forewent that by bringing in the heavy substrate kit – what the 15k does is give us the ability to print from 90gsm right up to 600 micron. Ultimately, it gives us a versatility and flexibility that helps us enhance the group’s offering, not just Delga press’ offering,” Conetta said.
CSP’s 7900s themselves are due to be upgraded, too, with delivery set for a pair of Indigo 7000s at the end of June; their arrival will mark the eighth and ninth presses from HP that Meliora has bought.
“I know there are other companies that have had more,” Conetta said, “but we are the only company in the UK that has HP Indigo in all three of their sectors: we have two 7000s in commercial print; a 6900 in labels, in carton we have the 15k.
“Under one roof, we’re able to service our commercial and packaging client bases with significant flexibility.”
Conetta added that the partnership had worked well for both parties, with Meliora benefitting from the “consistency and colour” afforded by the manufacturer’s tech.
He said: “We’ve had a very strong relationship with HP over the years – the volumes that have gone through our presses – certainly in B3 – are quite significant. It’s been a fruitful relationship for both parties.”
