The press and media handling equipment were installed at the company's premises in Ely, Cambridgeshire over the summer after ticking the firm's boxes for "print quality, production speed and reliability".

One of the major selling points of the automated media handling system is that it solves the problems that can occur when trying to digitally print corrugated media, which is very sensitive to changes in humidity.

Even when corrugated sheets are perfectly flat prior to printing the UV curing process will cause them to bow slightly due to changes in the moisture content of the board, thus making them harder to register properly when printing double-sided.

In addition to solving this problem, the automated media handling system also frees up the operator's time for other tasks, as it includes a robotic arm and camera system that can distinguish the location and orientation of the media stack, separate the top sheet and transfer it to the vacuum bed on the pre-load table on the Onset S40i.

David Atchinson, display manufacturing manager at DS Smith, said: "The fully automated handling system will maximise productivity and allow our operators, after starting the run, to focus their attention elsewhere as the print job is running.

"We were also very impressed to see how effectively the system handles single or double-sided print, enabling a wide variety of board types to be perfectly printed whilst being held flat on the table."

Meanwhile, the Uvijet OL low odour inks from Fujifilm satisfy the DIN EN 1230-1 standard for display and secondary packaging, mimicking the residual odour for water-based flexo inks.

"The Uvijet OL low odour ink will allow maximum functionality, delivering a superb gloss with excellent finishing properties," added Atchinson. "Overall, a brilliant solution."