The Ultra digital press costs from £320,000 and can produce 1,250 B2+ size sheets an hour. It can handle stock from 135 to 675gsm on thicknesses up to 700 microns. 

The manufacturer claims its incorporated patent-pending RSP technology delivers pin-point accuracy, while its Variable Density and 99GU applications allows for variable polymer thickness and "the highest level of gloss attainable" for print.

"It has taken a while for the print market to speed up to the fact that print is no longer merely a 2D medium but has become something that's raised and textured," said Mark Nixon, managing director for sole UK and Ireland distributor Conversion UK.

"This is twice the speed of our other B2 machine, the S75, and it employs twin-tray technology that loads twice as fast. At 1,250 sheets per hour, the Scodix Ultra can produce 10,000 B2 sheets, 40,000 photo-book covers, 80,000 greeting cards, or 480,000 business cards during every eight-hour shift," he said.

The device is targeted at commercial printers, folding-carton packaging converters, web-to-print shops and trade finishers servicing the luxury stationery, photobook, greetings cards and packaging markets.