The litho press spend forms part of an aggressive £1.5m investment programme at the Cannock-based commercial print business, replacing an outgoing B3 Heidelberg Printmaster and single-colour GTO in the process.

According to KJB commercial director Stephen Egerton the increased format size and the addition of digital production, in the form of a Xerox 8080 DocuColor colour press, was necessary for the company to grow.

"I recognised that to lift ourselves above the capacity and pricing barriers of small format offset, we had to add digital output and also move to a larger offset size," he added.

The Komori investment has already added 20% to the company's throughput in a single shift with the press operators impressed with both the control technology and job changeover, according to KJB.

Egerton added: "Our sales turnover is also up by 20% – with new business coming through our wider portfolio of print capability, improved competitiveness on larger-format and longer-run work, and our increased credibility in the B2 market."

In addition to the Xerox and Komori installations, the company's £1.5m investment programme comprised Kodak's Prinergy Workflow with Insite Proofing Portal and a refurbishment of its Staffordshire premises.

According to KJB managing director Lisa Simmonds, the business has "gone as far as it could" within the constraints of B3 format production.

"The B2 Komori and the new Xerox strengthen us within our existing Print On Demand market and will open up opportunities with new and existing customers, which include several in the print management and trade printing sectors," she added.

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