The £20m-turnover business, which specialises in printed packaging and collateral for the entertainment industry, opted for the Avalon machine to fulfil its growing plate production.

Delga is using the Avalon N8-80XT to process up to 6,500 Azura TS chemistry-free plates each month. These are then used across the group's six Heidelberg presses.

Delga Press managing director Allan Wells said productivity and sustainability were paramount factors when investing in the new technology.

"We are very keen to continually build on our environmental credentials and the Azura TS plate has helped enormously to reduce chemical waste disposal as well as water usage," he said.

Employing 200 staff, Delga has a broad client base that includes EMI, Tesco, Virgin, Sony and Ministry of Sound.

It also serves the NHS and public sector within a specialist division, catering for more than 200 hospital trusts offering printed material and stock management.

Its new Avalon N8-80XT platesetter can image up to 65 B1 plates an hour. According to John Dearlove, pre-press systems manager at Delga, the Azura plates offer a clear image that helps offer "excellent" quality reproduction.

"Taking everything into consideration, Agfa offered us by far the best package. They have the best chemistry-free plate and workflow solution and their technical support is fantastic," he added.