Glasgow, UK-based Bell & Bain Ltd is the first company in the world to place an order for Fujifilm’s digital inkjet web press, the Jet Press 540W. Founded in 1831, Bell & Bain Ltd specialises in the printing and binding of business, educational, financial, medical, scientific and religious books, and learned journals.

As Stephen Docherty, managing director at Bell & Bain Ltd, explains, technology investments have always underpinned the company’s development: “We have always maintained a lead on our competitors by investing in equipment and technology that preserve our standing as one of the leading book printers in the UK. Our investment in the Jet Press 540W allows us to continue this tradition.

“We first saw the press at drupa 2012 as part of our initial research into new technologies on the market, with a view to understanding how our business could benefit from incorporating inkjet into the production environment. At the time, we felt that none of the inkjet devices we saw were quite up to the high quality standards that we adhere to, but happily this had changed when we took another look at the Jet Press 540W in January 2013 during a number of visits to Fujifilm’s demo facility in Brussels. The consistent high quality output in combination with the ‘no click‘ business model on which the Jet Press 540W is based, made it the most attractive investment on the market, and the decision making team here at Bell & Bain were confident enough to sign on the dotted line.“

Due for installation in July 2013, the Jet Press 540W will replace Bell & Bain’s incumbent black & white toner-based continuous feed device. As Stephen explains: “The investment in the Jet Press 540W will complement our existing offering, by enabling us to produce digitally the high quality colour products for which we’re renowned.” He concludes: “We are already forerunners in the digital book printing market and we’re coinfident that the addition of the Jet Press 540W to our equipment portfolio will allow us to go from strength-to-strength, working alongside customers to fulfil their needs and requirements, better than ever before.“

Chris Broadhurst, national sales manager, Fujifilm Graphic Systems UK, comments: “We’ve worked alongside the team at Bell & Bain for many years now and are very proud to be in a position to be able to facilitate the introduction of digital inkjet into their business. It’s also great news for the UK print industry that well-established printers, such as Bell & Bain, are still investing, to stand their businesses in good stead for tomorrow and beyond.“