The Leicester-based company has switched from Canon Océ to Ricoh and the new printers are due to be commissioned on 1 February.
Opus Trust decided to replace its two Canon Océ CS66 models.
“Our cut-sheet colour machine fleet was four or five years old and we were looking to run it for the duration of its life,” said sales director Mark Hetem.
“However we see that there’s a need for cut-sheet colour technology because companies are interested in using more colours and fonts. Because of this need for short-run and different formats we thought it was time to upgrade.”
Hetem said clients were being encouraged by regulators to make changes in their transactional and marketing mail or include more personalised content.
“Regulators are driving complexity in documents. An energy company might need to convey the client’s bill differently than they had to do a month ago. So it’s useful for us to have newer technology.”
The company did a full market review, considering all suitable options and decided to go with Ricoh, buying two C7100 printers and one C9100.
The 90ppm C7100 prints on stock up to 360gsm with a top resolution of 1,200x4,800dpi, and can also produce banners up to 700mm in length. It has a fifth colour station for applying white, or a spot or flood clear gloss finish.
“The new machines give us more flexibility and more creative options, increased capacity and increased reliability. They were the best for our needs,” Hetem said.
“We decided on them because they deliver great quality and great print at the right price and in a few months’ time they will help with new business capacity.”
Opus Trust Marketing, which achieved a £20m-turnover for the first time in its last financial year to 31 March 2015 after experiencing 17% year-on-year growth, took the opportunity to add two Ricoh Pro 8100s for MICR printing on cheques.
Hetem said there was a still a strong market for cheques.
“Cheques are seeing no sign of decreasing, we still have a need from our client base,” he said.
He said the 150-staff business, which was shortlisted in this year’s PrintWeek Awards Company of the Year category, has a policy of continually reviewing its technology so that it is state-of-the-art for customers.
Chief executive Paul Brough added: “It has so far been a busy year for us and the trend for year-on-year sustained growth has continued.
"We are on target for another successful financial year and this investment is part of our strategic business plan and demonstrates the confidence we have in growing our business for the future.”
