The Rochester-based company will install radio frequency identification (RFID) microchips and sensors on each of the Mainstream blankets to relay real-time information on performance and lifespan.

OBU chief executive Peter Milton said: The RFID tags are revolutionary because they can work with the nickel cylinders. They will be able to tell how many impressions you get from the blanket on a certain paper, and whether you have to wash up more times using different papers.

Milton, a former Adscene production director, said that real-time information would reduce administration costs and boost production efficiency.

Trafford Park Printers managing director Jacques de Wit said the new system would help the company to manage the cost of consumables.

The blankets on our Goss presses are replaced every eight or nine weeks even if one may have been smashed and replaced the week before. This will help with cost management, said de Wit.

Commissioning tests continue on the two Heidelberg Mainstreams, each of which has 35 printing couples, and full production could start by September.

Story by John Davies