"We will rationalize sales, support and production," said Vale-Tech director Nick Scott. "The Inovex range joins ours to cover almost every conceivable dispensing application."

Inovex director David Holmes, who becomes sales and marketing director of Vale-Tech, said: "We were treading on each other's toes. With margins tightening and the market shrinking, it made sense to get together to cover every niche in dispensing and colour management for the ink and print industry."

Corby, Northants-based four-strong Inovex makes 700,000 turnover from Europe, Australia and Asia. Vale-Tech's 15 staff in Newmarket, Suffolk has a 1.4m turnover from clients in the UK, US and European markets. The former will move to Vale-Tech's HQ, but use its old base as a technical center.