The investment, sealed in July, makes SOS the first user in Australasia, following a handful of installations in Europe and the US.

SOS has bought the B&W Prosper 1000 model, and is considering upgrading to the full-colour 5000XL in the future.

Director Michael Schulz said: “It’s a very distinct possibility that we’ll go to four-colour. While it’s only available in black at the moment, the print samples we have from the black Prosper 1000 are very, very good.”

Schulz said the Sydney-based company would migrate both digital and offset work to the new inkjet press.

“Initially we’re going to do a lot of publishing work, and educational and training materials. We’re still assessing it, but it will definitely do book runs of more than a thousand.”

Steve Ford (pictured), business development manager for Digital Printing Solutions at Kodak Australia & New Zealand, said: “The Prosper 1000 is a perfect fit at SOS. They have the print volume to migrate onto the Prosper. They’re very astute business people.”

“It can print at 200 metres a minute – that equates to 3,600 A4 pages per minute.  We believe this is a game changer,” added Ford.

Installation is planned for November, with the machine scheduled to be up and running in November to meet the Christmas boom.

“We need to be in full production before Christmas. The sooner we can get it running the better for us. There isn’t really any quiet time in the year any more,” said Schulz.

Click here for the latest headlines from across the printing industry.

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