First this month, says Flexpress, came two new Ricoh 9500s replacing a single Ricoh 9200, closely followed by the order of a new RMGT 970 PF-8 8-colour perfecting lithographic press due to arrive in September. This will replace an existing 920 4 colour press. Then finally an HP Indigo 120K which replaces an HP Indigo 100K in April.
“Since gaining our third adjacent new unit early last year, we desperately wanted to reorganise the factory layout”, explains Managing Director Steve Wenlock. “However, we’ve had to bide our time until the stars aligned correctly.
“Financially, this year, we are in a position to swap out equipment cost-effectively; especially with our CBILS facilities finishing, and there is no better opportunity to relay the factory floor space than when you change your equipment.”
Combined with Flexpress’ investment in additional finishing kit recently including 4 extra towers, a stacker and a bi-directional kit for its Duplo 700 Booklet-making system and a Duplo DSM 1000 die-cutter, Wenlock anticipates being able to add a further £2+ million turnover to the growing business over the next few years.
“I’ve been told our Duplo booklet-making/collating system is the largest in the world” says Wenlock, “and our RMGT 970 PF-8 will be a first for mainland UK. The bi-directional kit on the Duplo allows us to use some of the towers to collate perfect-bound books to one end of the machine and still stitch stapled booklets at the other!
“These are probably good examples of how we think innovatively and don’t just follow others, but consider what will work best for us, our products and our clients.”
Flexpress says it has enjoyed double digit growth year-on-year since 2021, operates from 10,000 square feet, currently employs 26 people and last year turned over £4.2 million.
You can find out more about Flexpress in our Publishing Services Directory.
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