The Cork, Ireland-based commercial printer is replacing its existing four-colour litho press with the SRA3 Presstek – a move that has already more than halved the time it takes to complete its leaflet printing.

Dave McCarthy, director at Woodland Print, said: "We can produce 5,000 A4 four-colour flyers in 40 minutes whereas it used to take us nearly two hours by the time we had made the plates."

He anticipates the new machine will allow the printer to compete for work it could not go for previously.

"We didn't feel confident in quoting for more profitable work. We also knew that we could win more repeat business if we had the right equipment," McCarthy said.

The company said the Presstek also represented a sounder investment than opting for a new litho machine, as it allowed the business to continue running its film imagesetter.

McCarthy said: "We did consider buying a newer conventional litho press but, once again, in order to achieve the quality, we would have had to trade in our film imagesetter for a computer-to-plate system.

"That would have been a very big investment for a company that employs 10 people."

The 34DI can output at speeds ranging from 1,500sph-7,500sph and print on a maximum sheet size of 340x460mm.

It has outputted around 1.2m sheets in its first month of production, the company said – a rate it anticipates will continue.

McCarthy added: "When we fill the press to capacity in the next two years, then we will look at upgrading it to the faster Presstek 52DI B3 machine, but the 34DI is already starting to revolutionise our business."