Focus Press' new $8 million Canberra facility will boost the group's capacity by about 13% and be devoted to next-day turnarounds.
Focus Press acquired PMP's Canberra business in July. The business has spent the past fortnight relocating from the old PMP site in Fyshwick to the new facility in Hume, with the move expected to be completed in December, said managing director David Fuller.
ACT deputy chief minister Andrew Barr will open the site tomorrow.
Focus Press valued its investment in the new facility at $8 million. Fuller told ProPrint that the funds had been invested in leasing the building, fitting it out and installing machinery. He said it currently had about 15 staff, but that more might be added in the new year.
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The factory will have "a lot of digital firepower" and a five-colour plus coater press, as well as a six-colour press that will arrive in 2014, said Fuller. He declined to provide further details.
"It's a site that's dedicated to short-run, fast-turnaround. The average job you'll put in today and be delivered tomorrow," he said.
Fuller said the Sydney manufacturing plant and Wollongong site could each print about four tonnes per day and deliver next-day turnarounds. He said the Canberra factory would produce about one tonne per day and also offer next-day turnarounds.
"The new value is that quality is a given. The scope of service needs to be broad, and turnaround is really important," he said.
"Simplifying print is very important to us – giving enablers to customers to allow them to lodge a marketing campaign with us on Tuesday and we can have it in the mail by Wednesday or Thursday at the latest."
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Sydney, Wollongong and Canberra will largely operate independently, but will sometimes work together on larger orders. All three sites have standardised systems, he said.
Fuller said Canberra would be carbon neutral and would constantly search for efficiencies. He added that the Sydney plant had managed to cut its energy use by 50% in 2013. "It's about everybody getting together and looking for opportunities," he said.
Meanwhile, Focus Press will announce an acquisition at tomorrow's opening.
Fuller told ProPrint that the group had acquired a sustainable promotional products business. He declined to reveal its name, but said it was an experienced company, and that Focus Press had taken on its intellectual property and key staff.
Focus Press will offer the promotional products as a value-add and will also sell them through a standalone website, said Fuller.
He said the business would offer short runs, such as 10 mugs, but that corporate clients could also order larger runs, such as 1,000 pens.
The products will be sold around Australia, with Sydney and Canberra handling most of the manufacturing, he said.
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