Gloucester-based Severn is the first UK site to buy a Canon VarioPrint iX2100 sheet-fed inkjet press, complementing its existing web-fed ColorStream 3900 and VarioPrint i300 cut-sheet units.
The company operates in general commercial print, book and mailing and has seen considerable growth in the book and publishing segment, which has come to account for a quarter of its revenue, with colour work in educational books and academic journals. Between 2017 and 2020 it has added more than 70 publishing customers, achieving 50% growth. The new press was added to diversify Severn’s offering and to expand technical services for customers.
As an existing Océ customer, Severn turned once again to Canon. Managing director Ian Smith, said, ‘Canon works and lives with Severn, and has really helped us to transform and grow the business over the past few years. When we turned to them to look for a new device to help fuel ongoing growth, we were delighted to learn that the new varioPRINT iX-series was due to be launched.
‘Canon is really at the forefront for inkjet printing and the new VarioPrint iX-series has set a new benchmark for this. The device delivers breakthrough quality that matches offset, toner, and liquid toner technologies, alongside the highest levels of uptime and reliability, without having to compromise on cost. It will enable us to offer broader capabilities to customers, including the ability to print on a greater range of media from 60gsm uncoated to 350gsm coated, which will help to expand our customer base further in the future, both domestically and overseas.’
As a result of the purchase, Severn has also hired a new technical director, Mark Allington, to create automated workflows to manage all output devices. Through the team’s growing technical expertise, Severn aims to seamlessly connect with customers and their warehouses via custom API programming. This is expected to open up new opportunities to engage with print buyers, publishers and print management companies.
The Canon VarioPrint iX series was launched in April 2020, with the world-wide first installation at Kampert Nauta in the Netherlands in May.
