The Nottingham-based outfit will take the Easymatrix, which is manufactured by Masterwork Machinery and supplied by Heidelberg, in October, at which time it will also install a BGM Elite die-cutter slitter rewinder.

The six-colour Speedmaster XL 106 joined a similarly specified Speedmaster CD 102 in February, which is already running alongside a Sanwa die-cutter. 

Midland sales and marketing director Kate Tew said the firm had been experiencing bottlenecks running only one die-cutter alongside two litho presses.

Midland searched the market extensively and managing director Steve Bates, along with technical director Michael Tew, visited the Heidelberg Packaging Centre in Wiesloch-Walldorf, Germany, for a demonstration prior to purchase.

Kate Tew said: “We already had die-cutting with one press and now we’ve got the second press so we can do more packaging; it’s to keep up with the demand of the press and the demand of our customers as well.

“We’ve taken on a lot more work so at the moment we’re trying to satisfy all our customers, so we would be looking for extra capacity but are also available to provide a much more effective service for our existing customers.”

The automated Easymatrix, which will operate on two shifts, runs at a maximum speed of 7,700sph, handling stocks of 90gsm to 2,000gsm and at thicknesses of up to 4mm corrugated.

“We really liked the fact that it can reduce makereadies, meaning we can have extra capacity. It’s just a really good fit within our company,” added Tew.

She also said that the BGM had been purchased to enable Midland to offer a wider variety of blank labels to existing customers while also moving into new label markets. 

Midland’s packaging arm is where it generates the majority of its £5.5m turnover but it also offers label printing, general commercial print and product design. The 55-staff outfit also runs two Vega gluing machines and two flexo presses. High-profile clients include Wickes, Sainsbury’s and Speedo.