SPS Group on track to double turnover to 20m

SPS Group has said it is on track to double turnover to 20m by 2014 after it invested in a large-format, flatbed Inca Onset S20 inkjet printer from Fujifilm last year.

Managing director James Martin said the investment decisions had brought "huge flexibility, impressive additional capacity, and expanded the range of POS products the company can produce".

Martin said: "We purchased Fujifilm's Onset press because we believed it would help enable the business to hit its target.

"The aim was to maximise quality on a wide range of materials, cut turnaround times and improve short-run production efficiency – which we have on all counts."

He added that before Fujifilm installed the Onset S20 at SPS, only 10% of jobs were printed on a flatbed digital printer, with 40% screen printed and 50% printed offset. Today, 40% are printed on the Onset S20 and 10% screen printed.

SPS has also streamlined several manufacturing processes, such as the print and manufacture of 3D display units.

The Inca Onset S20 prints edge to edge on substrates up to 3.14mx1.6 m at production speeds of up to 310sqm per hour.

Operations director Karen Beadle-Rich added: "As versioning and personalisation grow in popularity throughout the retail sector, batch run lengths are becoming smaller and digital printers are perfectly positioned to handle these.

"Digital print technology has matured greatly and the Onset S20 combines everything we need to produce high volumes of small-run jobs at the best quality and with minimal waste."

The company has also purchased an XXL Manroland litho press and an Esko Kongsburg cutter over the past four years.

SPS is based in Wimborne, Dorset, and specialises in POS print, production, management and logistics across the retail marketing sector. The family-owned business began in 1968 and has 145 staff.