Commercially available from the Alton-based supplier as of this week, imc.lite is designed specifically for smaller businesses who are looking to use an inkjet system.

The kit, which uses thermal inkjet technology from HP, can be installed either inline or on top of mail base, polywrapping, envelope enclosing and stitching lines, among others.

E&B director Richard MacLean said that while the company had supplied larger Inc.jet systems for a number of years, it had seen the need for a more economical unit for smaller businesses.

“We already supply Inc.jet’s MPP4, which is industrial housing for an HP system for thermal inkjet, and have been putting these in for a whole range of customers, mainly onto Sitma lines.

“That’s a high-end, robust product, but some customers didn’t have the budget for that option so we wanted to bring out a low-cost HP thermal inkjet system, for the inkjetting of addresses onto mail bases or polywrapping lines.”

The machine is priced from £11,750 in a standard three-cartridge configuration, with a print width of just over 37mm, though MacLean said many customers will likely opt for a four-cartridge system to get a 50mm print width.

“We have a range of our own cartridges, each of which we believe are the best types of ink for the substrates that people are printing onto; you can get solvent and water-based inks,” said MacLean.

Imc.lite’s standard maximum speed is 2m/sec though E&B said it has supplied a previous system for a web press that runs at up to 160m/min.