Presstek aims to smash bottlenecks that blighted its production last year with a newly created post.


It has appointed Robert Barry as director of pre-production engineering to manage the crossover of engineering and production at the US base in Hudson.


He reports to president and chief executive Robert Hallman, who said: "Presstek has a strong engineering department, but transferring prototypes for manufacture created bottlenecks last year. Design changes were often made after building had started and this created deficiencies."


Barry will draw up a "pre-production protocol" for new products to ensure smooth running from design to full production.


Barry came from Polaroid Graphics Imaging in Bedford, Massachusetts, where he was vice president of research and development.