Print Solutions
Micropress is just finishing a £1 million extension to its existing site, which joins its existing paper warehouse and main factory together, giving the company another 1600 square metres of operational space.
Joint managing director Robert Cross said, ‘After six months of construction, the new site is just about complete, the floor is down and the building is watertight. There is still some work to do on the internals but most importantly we have done enough so that we are ready to take delivery of some new equipment arriving in January.’
The building will house a new short run print division as the business looks to grow in this area. As well as additional manufacturing space the new area will have a dedicated storage and fulfilment area as the business is starting to do more of this type of work alongside the direct mail set up.
Robert continued, ‘We are seeing more customers who want a solution and not just a printer so it is important we can accommodate this with a dedicated area that is properly set up.’
The company has purchased a Canon IX3200 inkjet press. This will significantly increase capacity of the short run print division as well as deliver outstanding quality at competitive prices. The press will be delivered in January and will be fully operational 24 hours a day by February.
Robert said, ‘It was a hard decision on who to partner with as we were presented with some excellent options. However, we were really impressed with the IX and we are looking forward to working with Canon.’
Whilst the company needed to replace a cut sheet digital device everyone involved also took the opportunity to look at continuous digital during the process.
He continued, ‘We are excited to see where the continuous digital is going and what it has to offer in terms of quality, efficiency and automation. This is something that is firmly on our radar.’
To bolster binding capacity, the business has also purchased a Horizon CABS4000V. This is a highly automated machine that will significantly increase short run binding capacity but with a gathering line as well it will act as a hybrid machine that will handle litho work as well as digital. The new binding line is set to be installed in spring 2024.
Finally, the company has ordered an additional automated TH82 P Stahlfolder, which will be delivered next month.
Robert said, ‘This will help ease bottlenecks in busy periods. We have spare capacity in the presses but there was no point pushing them harder if we couldn’t fold the work. This will change that.’
It is likely that Micropress will also invest in an automated stack down system for the folder, which it already has on the end of its existing folders, but no decisions have been made at this stage.
Robert concluded, ‘We are thrilled to announce this substantial investment, which reflects our commitment to providing printing solutions to our valued customers.’
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