Reel Label Solutions installed a brand new Durst Tau 330RSC E digital presses at its Pontyclun facility as part of the expansion plans following its MBO.
It is important to note that the word “you” means “you”. 80m/min with 1,200dpi Tau was delivered to the manufacturer at the end June. Production began in the first week of the month of July.
It replaced a previous model in a larger production room. An obsolete EFI Jetrion4830. The new printer now runs alongside another Jetrion and a Domino N610i, with the company’s litho work run through a Focus Proflex SE six-colour UV press.
The investment follows the firm’s £1.2m management buy-out in May 2022, which was funded by the Development Bank of Wales.
As part of the deal, £300,000 from the bank was set aside for expansion.
Jonathan Wright, Reel Label Solutions’ managing director, stated that the Tau is a means for Reel Label Solutions’ to achieve sustainable growth.
“We’ve been in digital since 2010,” he told Printweek.
“The business has been growing year on year, and we’ve got to a position that we were looking at investing in another bit of kit to cope with that growth.”
In recent years, the company has typically hit 10% turnover growth, and is expected to clear £3.9m in its latest financial year, which ends in August.
Deciding to go with inkjet because it suited the firm’s key markets of pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and chemicals, the company began looking for a suitable press in late 2022.
While the team considered a few different manufacturers – including those already in its mixed press stable – it opted for Durst after a January 2023 visit to the company’s Italian headquarters.
Wright says that the decision was a good one.
He said: “The training was excellent, and since it’s been in, it has been outstanding.
“We believe that we can get higher quality business [with the machine] and we have already moved some litho work onto it – which, to be honest, I didn’t think we would be.”
Simon Cosh, Durst’s UKI business development manager, said: “With Reel Label Solutions quite rightly having demanding requirements, we are delighted it chose Durst Tau technology for a long-term solution.
“This investment is also another example of how increasing numbers of label converters are moving to our market-leading technology with all the benefits that include a quantum leap in print quality afforded by 1200dpi resolution.”
Reel Label Solutions has 27 employees at its 550 sqm facility in Pontyclun (South Wales).