Both machines were installed at the end of July, and are now in what Route One managing director Adam Carnell has described as the “ramp-up” phase.
The company made the £1.5m investment primarily in order to produce shorter-run B2 work such as presentation folders.
The Rotherham-based printer claims to be the fastest growing trade printer in the UK and came 50th in this year’s Sunday Times Virgin Fast Track 100.
Carnell said: “We’ve known about the Indigo 10000 since last year but the decision was only made very shortly before the installation. We went out, saw the Indigo at Drupa and realised the huge benefits it would have for us as a business.
“The SmartStacker was developed very much alongside HP, with lots of the work being done in HP’s Israel base. There’s an inline finishing control unit that links the two machines together, so we send the HP the information, which transmits it onto the Horizon.”
Carnell highlighted a number of other reasons why Route One opted for the Indigo, including its quality, ability to produce flat-cut digital work and its speed: it prints at 4,600sph.
Carnell said Route One looked at the majority of other B2 digital competitors but settled on the Indigo mainly because it ran fully inline with the SmartStacker.
“The other thing for us was the level of comfort and support we got from HP. It’s as much about the culture as it is about the technology and everyone from HP is geared towards making sure the machines are there and working,” added Carnell.
Support for the Smart Stacker was provided by Intelligent Finishing Systems (IFS).
The Indigo joins three Xerox iGen 4s and two HP Scitex 11000 flatbeds in Route One’s digital department.
Carnell added: “Over the next five years, I think Landa will really start to take off and the SRA3-plus size digital machines will slowly phase out. When you start to look at productivity, that extra sheet size has a transformational effect.
“We are now expecting the same amount of printed sheets from the Indigo as we get out of the three iGens, which will double our digital output.”
Route One is looking to recruit two new staff to operate the machine and has recently appointed two more to operate its July-installed 10-colour B2 Speedmaster.
Last week, it became the first UK company to sign for a Duplo iSaddle Pro Duetto Digital System saddle stitcher and in June it converted its B1 Speedmaster SX to LE-UV.
240-staff Route One has a turnover of around £20m, which in a period of mass growth it expects to increase to £32m by the end of the current financial year.
