The Marden, Kent-based firm has bought two Xerox iGen 150s and XMPie personalisation software. The iGen 150s features Xerox’s Matte Dry Ink (MDI) and the larger 660mm sheet size.

“The quality is unbelievable. I’ve never seen anything like it,” said MDS chief executive Noble.

“We looked at HP and we’ll probably look at HP again in the future, but it’s very different technology – we were so impressed with the quality that we opted for the iGens.”

The deal was signed on the Friday (20 June), and the two machines went into MDS Kent facility and Millnet’s London site on the following Tuesday.

The London iGen, which joins two other Xerox colour engines, will produce work for both companies, while the Marden machine will focus predominantly on MDS work.

“We have a lot of work here [at MDS] and we really need the iGen. It’s been a real struggle not having something like that here,” said Noble.

“However, if we have some spare capacity at times and Millnet, which does a lot of colour work, needs support then we can take some of their overflow here and vice versa.”

To make room for the new press, MDS has taken on additional space at its leased factory unit – which also houses three Heidelberg presses: a 12-colour B1 press and six- and five-colour B2 presses.

The firm has also taken on an additional unit nearby to set up a hand-enclosing operation.

The site expansion and kit investment is part of Noble’s plan to build a £15m-£20m business in the next two years, following her return to print with the acquisition of Print Logic in April and its subsequent rebrand as MDS.

To find out more about Noble’s return to print and her plans for MDS, read our interview with her here.