Weve found the missing piece of the jigsaw, said Openshaw commercial support manager Geoff Stephens. It complements the Oc and Xeikon range.

Stephens acknowledged that the machine isnt designed to produce the monthly volume of pages of a DocuColor 6060 or an HP Indigo, but added that it was not the market it is aimed at.

Openshaw said it sees it as the ideal machine for printers taking their first steps into digital print.

It spent a long time looking for the right technology rejecting several machines on quality grounds. It also looked hard at the firms supplying the equipment. Some didnt have the right culture for the professional print market, he said.

The Minolta CF3102 churns out 31ppm in black-and-white or colour at top speed, it can handle up to 250gsm stocks and oversize A3. It uses polymerised toner, which is similar to Xeroxs Emulsion Aggregation (EA) toner in that it made up of very small particles, doesnt need silicon fusing oil and offers high image quality.

It has an EFI Fiery front-end and is available in a range of configurations priced between 18,000 and 25,000.