Electronics For Imaging, Inc. reported that UK-based The Delta Group has acquired its third EFI Nozomi press, an EFI Nozomi 14000 SD single-pass printer for sign and display.

This printer adds to two previous Nozomi acquisitions, a Nozomi C18000 printer for corrugated and a Nozomi 18000+ LED printer for sign and display, rounding out its high-volume digital production capability which will help them finish their migration from offset to digital.

The EFI Nozomi 14000 SD printer was designed to specifically meet the needs of the sign and display graphics market, giving users the opportunity to significantly improve speed to market and increase profitability with a wide range of substrates and brilliant colour quality.

The privately owned The Delta Group, in business for more than 35 years, is an end-to-end visual communications solutions provider predominantly serving the retail industry. Headquartered in Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire, UK, the company has four other locations around the UK, including in Dublin, Ireland.

With 680 staff and revenue just north of £100 million, the company offers a wide range of services, from creative, to manufacturing, installation, digital signage and more.

The Delta Group was the first company in the UK to install a Nozomi press. “Once we have made the transition to our new facility,” said Martin Shipp, the group’s chief operating officer, “I believe we will be the first company in the world to have three Nozomis under one roof.”

“In our main facility,” Shipp said, “we had 13 flatbeds running, and each flatbed requires a space the size of a tennis court to have sufficient working space around it. But with the Nozomis being up to five or six times faster than even the fastest multi-pass machines, we have been able to reduce our flatbed footprint down to about five across our network.”

Key drivers for The Delta Group in shifting from offset and flatbeds to Nozomi printers were the shortened turn times and run lengths. Shipp explained, “Historically, retailers would order run lengths of 3,000 or more, suitable for offset. But now, instead of campaigns having five different items with a couple thousand of each, we are more commonly seeing campaigns that contain 250 different items with an order quantity of 500-ish each. So, it has really pushed the transition from analogue to digital for the group.”