MSO Cleland is looking for growth in the luxury packaging sector after a KBA press increased productivity on UV packaging materials by almost 40%.

The eight-colour Rapida 106 was installed in July and works alongside two Heidelberg presses to make MSO's Belfast operation more flexible to customer requirements and increase output.

MSO chief executive managing director Dominic Walsh said the KBA press, which is being used on a 24-hour shift, achieved a high standard of printing and enabled it to dovetail capacity to customers' needs.

"Improved productivity and resulting increased capacity means we are well positioned for future growth, especially in the very demanding luxury packaging sector where the superior print quality achieved with the KBA is a real bonus," he said.

The KBA press is fitted with fully automatic plate changing and the firm's Drivetronic infeed system, which eliminates manual stock changes.

KBA UK managing director Christian Knapp said the firm had secured the deal with MSO by delivering on the promised fast make-ready times and very high running speeds.

"We ran three different jobs of 4,500 sheets, 6,000 sheets and 90,700 sheets and the press achieved almost 40% increased productivity on UV packaging material compared to MSO existing press," he said.