The 180sqm/hr press, installed in May, will provide MSM with a significant boost to productivity, and will eventually give the firm room to expand its product range, according to managing partner Tom Smyth.

He told Printweek: “It was the obvious choice to go for a second [SwissQprint].

“They just work – there’s no mess, there’s significant savings in the running costs, and the quality and output is amazing.”

Opting for a CMYK, white and varnish layout, MSM now has the capacity – between the 3.2m-wide Nyala and the 2.5m-wide Impala – to accelerate production and look at new business.

Smyth said: “We’re working to expand. We recently had a setback with a late delivery of raw material, but the Impala has really helped us catch up – now, the idea is that we can dedicate one SwissQprint machine to making car fresheners, and use the other to develop other products.

“Signage and acrylic are of particular interest – but that’s the plan. We’re pretty much synonymous with car fresheners right now. Over the years, we’ve developed a good niche market, but that’s our bread and butter, and we’ve always got an eye open for opportunity.”

The new Impala was up and running in just half a day after install; ease-of-use, Smyth said, was a big plus for the brand.

He said: “SwissQprints just work brilliantly – they’re simple to use, and you can train somebody up and have them printing in a morning.

“They come pretty much directly from the factory in a dedicated truck, so it’s just a matter of unloading it, getting it leveled, calibrating and all that. But within the day, it’s operational.”

For MSM, the new machines have proved transformative for productivity, following the Nyala’s installation in 2022, when it replaced two flatbed UV printers.

Alongside a Kongsberg C-series digital cutting table, the machines can power through the company’s many runs of car fresheners.

“That’s when they really come into their own, when you have a flatbed outputting onto a digital [cutting] table; it’s really a phenomenal capability,” Smyth said.

“We used to outsource the print, but over the years we’ve brought pretty much all the processes in house. It’s the way things have been going since Covid, too – you don’t want to have to worry about your chain of supply.”

MSM employs 14 at its 560sqm Belfast site, turning over around £1.25m annually.