The firm signed up for a Canon Océ Arizona 480XT printer and Esko Kongsberg XN44 digital cutting table at Fespa in Cologne last month.
It bought the Arizona directly from Canon, and purchased the Esko from Duplo in a £300,000 investment.
The Arizona has a bed size of 2.5x3.05m and is configured with eight ink channels, CCMMYK plus white and clear. The Kongsberg has a diverse range of cutting and milling options for sign and display and other applications. It can cut materials up to 50mm thick.
“It’s our first foray into flatbeds, we’ll be able to do sign and display from central London,” said managing director Paul Manning.
The new kit, which will be installed by the end of June, augments Rapidity’s existing wide-format set-up, which includes a HP Latex 360.
Rapidity is creating a ‘showroom style’ area for the new equipment at its 1,350sqm premises in EC1, near Angel.
“We’re remodelling around 3,000 square feet of our office area to create a showroom style space, where we can showcase all the things the machines are capable of producing such as glass, wood and tiles,” explained production director Ben Manning.
“We have an existing wide-format customer base that includes sports and events companies, and we’ll be able to offer them extra services.”
Rapidity has taken on an additional employee with expertise in site surveys and installations as a result of the investment. The £6m-turnover firm employs 35 staff.
The company has a wide range of production facilities in-house, including HP Indigo and Xerox digital print kit, comprehensive finishing facilities including perfect, lay-flat and wire binding, and a Heidelberg Platen for die-cutting and foil blocking. It also offers mailing and fulfilment services.
“We also liked the Arizona because it allows us to produce covers for large case-bound books which cannot be done on the HP Indigo. Creative services is something we are keen to grow into, producing on-demand, bespoke pitch work for new and existing customers,” he added. “And the Kongsberg can do short-run die-cutting as an additional option to our platen.”
Rapidity also added photobook services to its web-to-print set-up earlier this year, using Infigo software.
