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Direct Corporate Design has become the first UK company to take delivery of a Tape­matic 2Print, which can print onto CDs and DVDs.

The specialist digital press is capable of printing onto 1,000 discs per hour and uses micro-inkjet head technology with UV curable ink. The Essex-based company provides CD and DVD duplication, printing and fulfilment.

According to Direct Corporate Design managing director Carl Cooley, the 2Print will allow the company to turn around short-run jobs quicker.

“The market is becoming more instant,” he said. “We currently screen print, but for short-run jobs, it costs time and money. With digital, you can print directly from the PDF. We can print anything digitally up to 2,000 pieces.”

Cooley added that the Tapematic would give the company additional capacity. Much of its work is for companies that deal with marketing agencies.

The 2Print is also capable of printing onto the next generation of Blu-ray and HD products which, according to Direct Corporate Design, are reputed to not react well to traditional screen or litho printing.

Tapematic launched the 2Print at the start of the year and Direct Corporate Design spent around £150,000 (€230,000) on the printer.

“It represents the largest investment that we have made so it was a big decision,” added Cooley. “I see our turnover growing considerably.”

The firm has a turnover of £900,000 and expects that to increase by the end of this year to around £1.3m. It has a workforce of 13.

“We are finding that lots of companies are deciding to use CDs and DVDs as a means to get their marketing message across,” said Cooley. “It’s lighter than heavy documents and saves paper.”