The Barry, South Wales-based digital printer has taken delivery of the new machine, which is the first Konica model to use High Chroma toner that simulates the colour pallette of an RGB monitor through CMYK.

Integrated Graphics, which has been solely digital for more than two years, specified the machine with Darwin variable data software, an area it said has "enormous scope" for applications such as postcards, coupons, newsletters and proposals.

Adrian Hickey, director at Integrated Graphics, said short-run work is another growth area where customers that used to order 5,000 copies are now demanding runs of 2,000.

"Increasingly customers want short-run, high-quality print-on-demand, instead of huge print runs. Digital print provides that flexibility," he added.

Hickey also believes the High Chroma toner, which is claimed to offer a wider colour gamut, will provide an additional selling point for the company.

"We want to stand out from the crowd in print provision and the bizhub Pro C65hc sets us apart because it’s given us an edge in terms of quality. In marketing terms, it’s a differentiator," he said.

The printer, which runs alongside Xerox, Ricoh and Epson digital kit, can print up to 65ppm in both colour and mono operation. It can also print on weights up to 300gsm in simplex mode and on 256gsm stocks in perfecting operation.

According to Hickey, the bizhub Pro was installed one day and up and running the next. "We ran 10,000 prints in the first four days," he said.

"Customers immediately noticed the difference and complimented us on the quality, especially of the cyan."