According to Heidelberg vice president for product management Hans-Erwin Brncke, the manufacturer is setting its sights on the sector because of its worldwide potential.

"We see an opportunity with packaging, which is an area that we have not had a huge involvement in historically," said Brncke. "But its global production figures are larger than commercial, particularly in Asia."

He added: "The UK is also traditionally a market with a strong number of packaging printers."

The strategy comes as the Speedmaster XL 105, launched at Drupa last year, goes into series production. The press targets highly industrialised, high-volume printers and can print up to 18,000 sheets per hour. It has a sheet size of 75x105cm.