The new press will replace a four-colour and a single-colour GTO, but despite losing three printing units during the installation, the company will actually become more productive.

"We had kept the four-colour GTO to handle overspill from our PM52, but our operators realised they could handle full-colour work in two passes faster on the SM 52 than in one pass on the GTO," said Reg Parsons, managing director at NS Print.

Its new press will print a range of jobs, including brochures, stationery and leaflets in addition to spot-colour work for corporate clients.

The commercial printer will also benefit from a common standard plate size across both presses.

"Today’s press technology is infinitely better than equipment we bought 14 years ago, although we were impressed back then," added Parsons.

In addition to the new Heidelberg, NS Print is also replacing its 19-year-old Polar 76 guillotine with a Polar 78X model.

"The Polar 76 is still working fine, but this is a precautionary buy, an update to a faster but equally robust machine," he said.