FACTORY INVESTMENT
The UK’s First AccurioJet 30000 Is Now Installed at Hickling & Squires.
A major new addition has arrived at Hickling & Squires, bringing even more flexibility, consistency and capability to our digital print department.
The new Konica Minolta AccurioJet 30000 has now been fully installed and is in production at our Nottinghamshire factory. It is also the first press of its kind to be installed anywhere in the UK.
While the technology behind it is impressive, the reason for the investment is much simpler: to give our clients more options and help a wider range of print projects move smoothly through production.
WHY WE INVESTED
Responding to the Way Print Is Changing
The way organisations buy and use print continues to change.
Campaigns are often more targeted, quantities can be very varied, and deadlines for deliveries can be tight. Businesses may need several versions of the same item, smaller initial quantities or the ability to respond quickly when plans change.
Traditional lithographic and digital printing both continue to play important roles within our factory, but now we have technology that fills the space in between.
Some projects need the flexibility associated with digital printing but at a larger size or quantity. Others need the consistency and finish expected from lithographic print without always requiring a longer production run.
The AccurioJet 30000 helps us bring those requirements together and bridge the gap.
The aim is to give our clients more freedom and increase efficiency when choosing quantities, materials, formats and turnaround times.
WHAT IT MEANS FOR OUR CLIENTS
More Flexibility Without Losing Quality
From a client perspective, the most important part of any new investment from us is how it can benefit their work.
The AccurioJet 30000 gives us more flexibility across short-run and medium-volume projects, all whilst maintaining the sharp detail, strong colour and consistency expected from high-quality commercial print.
Its addition to the factory gives us several advantages:
- Greater flexibility when choosing print quantities
- Consistent colour across every sheet of a project
- Sharp reproduction of text, photography and detailed graphics
- The ability to produce larger printed sheets digitally
- More options across standard, textured and specialist materials
- Efficient production of personalised content
- Faster movement between printing and finishing
This is increasingly useful for projects that need to move quickly or involve multiple different versions.
It also makes it easier to produce the quantity genuinely required for the job, reducing waste from overprinting larger runs just to achieve the same results.
PRINT QUALITY
Quality That’s Consistent
Good print should be straightforward to the person ordering it. The detail involved in producing it belongs behind the scenes. What matters to the client is that colours remain consistent, text stays sharp, images reproduce clearly, and the end result is something they can be proud of.
The AccurioJet 30000 is designed to monitor quality throughout production, helping our team maintain consistency from the first sheet through to the last.
This is especially valuable where a project includes large areas of colour, detailed photography, or fine text.
It gives our production team greater control, and gives clients added confidence that the approved result will be carried consistently across the finished run.
MATERIALS AND APPLICATIONS
More Possibilities for Different Print Projects
It’s rare that print projects are one-size-fits-all when it comes to production methods.
A premium brochure has very different requirements from a high-volume leaflet. A restaurant menu needs to perform differently from a mailer, and a personalised print presents different challenges from a standard booklet.
The new press can work with a broad range of papers and specialist materials, giving our team greater freedom when recommending the right specification for each project, opening up our options when it comes to what materials we can use.
Potential applications include:
- Brochures and booklets
- Menus and fabric materials
- Direct-mail campaigns
- Personalised prints
- Postcards and promotional cards
- Business stationery
- Reports, guides and educational materials
- Campaigns with multiple versions
Having this flexibility available in-house means we can look at the requirements of the individual project first and then choose the most appropriate production route.
As a client, we don’t expect the production method to be chosen before speaking to us. That is our responsibility. We assess the artwork, quantity, material, finishing requirements and deadline before recommending the best approach.
BEHIND THE INSTALLATION
Preparing the Factory for Its Arrival
Installing a press of this scale involved much more than simply finding an empty space on the factory floor.
A dedicated production room was created to provide the environment required by the new equipment. This involved substantial preparation across the factory, building work, lighting and electrics and decoration, all before the installation team could begin putting the press in place.
Once installed, the press went through commissioning, extensive testing and colour calibration before moving into live production. Our digital team also completed training to ensure we could make full use of its capabilities from the beginning.
The project required careful coordination between our own production team, contractors and Konica Minolta, all whilst maintaining our normal output across the rest of the factory.
Seeing the press now operating in its completed space marks the end of a significant installation project and the beginning of an important new stage for us here at Hickling & Squires.
Take a look at our timelapse below, which shows the amazing work put into the production and completion of the room, and the assembly of the AccurioJet 30000 within. If you missed our first video showing the external view of the room build, take a look at that here
PART OF A WIDER FACTORY
Choosing the Right Process for Every Project
The AccurioJet 30000 does not replace the other print capabilities within our factory. It serves as an added advantage, and a bridge to the gap between litho and digital print.
Hickling & Squires continues to operate a wide range of lithographic, digital, large & wide-format and finishing equipment. Each production method has its own strengths, and the best result comes from choosing the right one for the project.
Adding the AccurioJet 30000 gives us another strong option, particularly for work sitting between short-run and longer lithographic production.
It means we can respond more effectively when a project requires quality, flexibility, larger sheet sizes, several versions or a shorter delivery window.
For our clients, the process still remains simple.
Tell us what you need for your print project, and as your supportive print partner, our team will work out the most effective way to produce it.
Planning Your Next Print Project?
The AccurioJet 30000 is now fully installed and producing live client work at our Nottinghamshire factory.
If you have an upcoming project and would like advice on quantities, materials, formats, personalisation or finishing, our team will be happy to talk through the available options.
You don’t need to know which press or production method you should be using, simply tell us what you are looking to achieve and when you need it, and we will guide you from there.