Owner Tom Lusch told ProPrint that the 3.5 million-run project was “the biggest single job we’ve ever done”.

“To get a run of a million – I’ve only had two or three in my lifetime,” said Lusch, who would not reveal the client.

Printing is a minor part of the operations of the $21 million Brisbane firm, which derives 65% of its turnover from packaging.

The record-breaking job was printed on a 10-colour Komori SP 540 and completed in a tight three-week period in August, said Lusch.

“The job should have gone web, but they didn’t want to print web and being sheetfed it was a bit more flexible,” he said.

“We were given the job because we said we’d deliver it and we did. There wasn’t a lot of room for things to break down.”

Lusch said the good thing about having such a strict deadline was that it forced the company to fix equipment malfunctions or imperfections that it had previously worked around.

Platypus normally operates two shifts from Monday to Friday, but switched to a six-day, three-shift schedule, he said.

Staff were given two months’ notice to organise their shifts and were very cooperative, said Lusch.

Comment below to have your say on this story.

If you have a news story or tip-off, get in touch at editorial@sprinter.com.au.  

Sign up to the Sprinter newsletter