The Kingston upon Hull-based firm first came across the device at Drupa and it was installed last month.
Managing director Richard Simms said: “We went to Drupa to look at printing press technology and just stumbled across Scodix but were so impressed by this machine that we ordered it while we were there.
“We do litho printing for loads of packaging and point-of-sale companies as well as some in the stationery market and we print on all different substrates such as plastic and foil as well as normal boxboard, card and paper.
“The Scodix machine can handle all the same substrates and we’ve already got a client base that are into the high-end, high value-added looking products, so we thought it would be a good addition to our offering.”
The device offers UV-based polymer varnishing and spot foiling. There is no need to create a foil blocking die and the machine will give a raised gloss foil finish in one pass.
“We’ve never done foil blocking or spot UV before, we would normally send those items out. We will still send some of that work out as it doesn’t compete with traditional foil blocking exactly but we just wanted something that was higher value-added and technologically advanced,” said Simms.
“We’re already offering it as a service, mainly on our paper and board products in the packaging market, but we are also testing it on clear plastics and polypropylene and all the different various coatings that go on those materials as well.”
The business also looked at alternatives from Kurz and MGI at Drupa but Simms said the raised foil and gloss level produced on the Scodix machine was “extra special”.
The machine is additional to Oriel’s plant list, which also includes two seven-colour Heidelberg Speedmasters, a CD 102 and a CX 102, two Stahl folders, a Heidelberg cylinder and a Muller Martini saddle stitcher.
The firm installed an additional Technotrans beta.f unit onto its CX 102 last month to supplement its existing on-press filtration.
“With us running such notoriously difficult substrates, the ink water balance is very fine so this keeps the conductivity a lot more constant and the water a lot cleaner,” said Simms.
“It means we don’t have to clean out the water system as much and it also helps us with our printability on synthetic substrates.”
The firm has also recently built an extension onto its premises, increasing its total space from 2,230sqm to more than 2,600sqm. This has freed up extra floor space and streamlined the company's production workflow.
Taking into account the extension as well as the Scodix and Technotrans kit, Oriel, which has 40 staff and a turnover of around £3.7m, has invested around £700,000 over the past few months.
