The company, which moved to a 464sqm facility at the end of last year, replaced a B3 offset press with a secondhand Heidelberg Speedmaster SM74 but discovered that it lacked the necessary Heidelberg PrePress Interface component to handle CIP3 data.

Instead the company has installed an InkScript CIP3 module and press connection kit from Compose after owner Pat Chard visited one of Compose's existing customers, Leicestershire-based Fox Print, to see the InkScript and press connection kit in use.

The system was installed last month and is already proving its worth. Chard said that, following the install, the minder had a day's training and the system was up and running. "The idea is that we will be buying less paper and using less paper because of the faster makeready times and increased automation," he said.

Alongside its Speedmaster, the 11-staff company also upgraded its Indigo machine to a 5500 model, bought in a 60in HP L2550 wide-format latex machine as well as a range of prepress kit, such as a Screen PlateRite platesetter, and is currently trialling Trueflow against its existing Odystar workflow.

The expansion, which cost upwards of £600,000, was financed through Chard's pension fund, who also leased the premises back to the company, meaning external financing was kept to a minimum.

The £1.2m turnover company handles short-run high quality work for a range of customers including local design agencies as we as larger blue chip clients.