A Gold Coast-based direct mail firm has replaced its sheetfed fleet by investing in Screen's high-volume inkjet platform.

Alphabet Publishing, a newly formed division of Virid, installed the Truepress Jet 520 earlier in 2012.

The inkjet press will form the foundation of the company's assault on the direct marketing sector, leveraging its background in intensive data mining.

Operations director Marc Selby said: "Prior to the re-naming of the business, we were performing data mining for 20 years. It wasn’t even called data mining in the earlier days, we just saw it as a detail function of our direct marketing services to our clients.

"We became very proficient at it and have over half a million dollars invested in data mining systems, operated by very skilled technicians," added Selby.

The installation cost $2.5 million, comprising a pair of Truepress 520 engines.

The line offers speeds of up to 128 metres per minute and maximum resolution of up to 1,440x1,440dpi, using Epson printheads.

The installation makes the Screen platform the most popular high-volume inkjet platform in the region with 12 units installed across Australia and New Zealand, according to the vendor.

The first machine, another Screen Truepress Jet 520, was launched at Print Spot in Auckland in 2010. Another three lines have been installed at Computershare Communication Services as part of Screen's OEM arrangement with Ricoh InfoPrint.

The most recent was the duplex Infoprint system installed in Brisbane, which was originally thought to be the first inkjet line in Queensland; in fact Alphabet beat the share registry giant to the punch but has kept the investment under its hat until now.

The direct marketing focus at Alphabet marks a new direction for the technology, compared with Computershare's transactional printing focus and the on-demand books produced at Print Spot in New Zealand.

Screen Australia managing director Peter Scott said: "Alphabet’s sophisticated data mining and production demands have made this a challenging project but working in partnership with GMC, Hunkeler and of course Alphabet personnel has paid dividends all round.

"While we do have other such presses installed by Ricoh under the Infoprint brand, this is Australia’s first under our own Screen name."