The UK company signed a distribution deal last month for the Rigoli MVZ 1000, a low-cost system for producing colourful, short and medium-length runs of customised flexible packaging.

And because it utilises Memjet printing technology the machine was available with a low cost of entry, said RCL managing director Peter Barton.

He said the Italian-built machine cost about €250,000 (£220,000) against the £500,000 to £1m for or an Indigo or high-end Durst.

“The kit offers a great deal of personalisation, so could be used for bags, coffee packets or, an extreme example, say, personalised dog food packaging with images of the customer's dog.”

He said the small-footprint Rigoli MVZ 1000 was easy to use, could be readily configured into existing production workflows and was ideal for helping brands and converters to produce variable packaging across a wide variety of applications, sizes and substrates.

RCL and Rigoli launched and demonstrated the printer at the IPACKIMA show between 29 May and 1 June in Milan, Italy. It is available in the UK now.

Powered by Memjet’s single-pass inkjet technology, the printer produces 1,600dpi printing resolution at 9m/min, or 1,600x800dpi at 18m/min, with a 1.2pl drop size.

“All disciplines within the printing industry are seeing a general migration to digital technology,” explained Barton.

“The packaging industry has been slow to catch up with this trend, until now, as the existing systems did not really have the quality or speed required for modern-day productivity.”

The Rigoli MVZ 1000 has a maximum web width of 1,067 mm and the speed of the feed to a packaging line can be synchronized via a buffering system.

The printer also includes an “industrial” unwinder and rewinder, although it can also be configured in-line with other finishing equipment including cutting, and laminating systems as well as packaging and filling equipment.