The German manufacturer, a division of Langley Holdings, said in its pre-event press conference that sales of the machine, which was first debuted and shown to members of the public at its Offenbach production facility in late 2014, are approaching 200 units.

The firm is exhibiting a 12-unit version of the press, which includes eight colours, double coating and an inline foiler.

The 18,000sph B1-plus machine features a range of capabilities, including an optional sheet size of 750x1,050mm. Unique features are the TripleFlow inking unit, intelligent speed compensation for inking and dampening units and effective anti-ghosting solutions.

Manroland Sheetfed chief executive Rafael Penuela said: “We have delivered nearly 200 units of this press to all types of customers, ranging from commercial printers to packaging printers. The press demonstrates the technological changes that our customers are demanding.”

Penuela said the firm's Drupa tagline 'The Evolution of Print' encapsulates its vision for meeting the print industry’s challenges of today and tomorrow.

“The life cycle of presses is becoming longer, sometimes because of the diminished investment capabilities of our customers to buy new presses, so we learned over the last few years that we need to offer more than a fix and repair solution to them,” he said.

“If you buy a press for the next 10 years, you do not know what you will need then as the demand is changing and you might need other functions. You can extend the functionality of this press by retrofitting it.”