The Billingshurst, West Sussex-based general commercial and short-run packaging specialist first saw the machine at Drupa, where it was looking for its first four-colour machine.
"I looked at all the players in the market and Ryobi was head and shoulders above other machines," said Weald managing director Ray Burn. "Its ability to handle heavy stocks and the IR dryer were the clinchers. For packaging it's awesome."
Weald will feed the press with polyester plates produced on an Esko-Graphics DPX bought earlier this year.
"The GX is well suited to poly plates, together they can handle heavy solids and metallics all the stuff people say you can't do," said Burn.
The GX is the culmination of a 440,000 investment over the past year, which included a two-colour Heidelberg Speedmaster 52, Ryobi 3302, the DPX and a Printpak MIS.
Burns bought the firm last August following a 16-year career at Adare.
It is one of three firms to order the new machine, which was launched at Drupa and had its first UK showing at an open house at UK distributor Apex Digital Graphics last Thursday.
Alongside the GX the open house was also the UK debut for the Esko-Graphics DPX 4 B2 polyester platesetter and PlateDriver Compact B2 metal machine.
Apex has now completed the installation of all three of the new Ryobi 750 B2 machines. Following London's Repro City, Herbert Walker & Sons in Shipley West Yorkshire and Crossprint in the Isle of Wight have now received their machines.
Story by Barney Cox
