The firm will sell the 50m/min device in 10 countries across Europe, including the UK.

Dantex chairman Richard Danon told PrintWeek that the first machines would be installed at customers in key markets of UK, Germany and France early next year.

He said reliability would be a key differentiator for the Screen machine in the crowded inkjet label press market.

"There are a lot of machines out there, but reliability is where we will score. We’re talking about 95% uptime. Five-colours with single pass white is also very important," Danon said.

The Truepress has a 322mm print width and Screen said the special ink set used would result in it being able to match 80% of the Pantone colour range. It uses 600dpi Kyocera printheads.

The press costs from €600,000 depending on configuration. The white ink option will be available at the year-end.

The Dantex deal provides Screen with a springboard into the labels market, where the distributor already has a significant existing customer base. "We are a leading supplier of plates and equipment to the packaging sector, especially labels, and we have considerable expertise in this area," Danon added.

Tim Taylor, Screen Europe vice president of solutions and technology, said that although Screen was a new entrant to the label printing market, the firm’s inkjet know-how in other areas of printing would stand it in good stead.

"This is a real, industrial solution. We have more than 500 high-speed continuous inkjet presses installed in the market and those skills are not something that is easily acquired. The capacity to build reliable, consistent machines is a key part of the Screen offering," Taylor said.