The Delta Group has completed beta testing of the new Agfa SpeedSet Orca digital press, with the company claiming that it has exceeded all expectations
Print advertising agency, The Delta Group, has completed beta testing of the new Agfa SpeedSet Orca, a single-pass water-based digital press which claims to be “the most productive B1 inkjet press on the market.”
The Delta Group became the first company in the world to trial the SpeedSet Orca in 2024. After a successful installation and testing phase, the press is now reportedly making daily production runs and will soon begin shift work, which Agfa highlights as a major milestone in the Orca’s journey to full commercial availability.
Primarily aimed at the packaging market, the Orca offers reported top speeds of up to 11,000 B1 sheets per hour, handling a range of substrates including folding cartons, microflute, and paper.
The digital solution has been developed to offer comparable quality to offset and flexo printing, with large reductions in make-ready times and printing consumables and a flexibility that allows for short-run jobs to be produced more cost-effectively.
Its print quality, colour gamut, and the addition of inline digital primer and varnishing capabilities have all been developed to complement or replace existing offset and flexo production lines.
Speaking about the beta testing, Martin Shipp, chief operating officer at The Delta Group, says: “We had high hopes for the new press and we are delighted to see that it has exceeded them.
“It offers speed, quality, and sustainability benefits that are key to our digital transformation. The press is so versatile that we can utilise it for a wide variety of applications using different fibre-based substrates.”
Explaining the versatility of the press, Shipp continues: “We can run jobs that we would have traditionally run on our offset lines, giving us much more flexibility on the production floor without compromising quality.”
Richard Cotterill, global sales manager of packaging at Agfa Digital Printing Solutions, says: “I want to thank the team at Delta for their commitment and cooperation.
“Putting the SpeedSet Orca through its paces in the real-world production environment of a market leader like The Delta Group has been a privilege for us. We could not ask for a better proving ground for this pioneering innovation. Our friends at Delta have proven the SpeedSet Orca is the most advanced digital press that can meet the needs of today’s converters.”
Speaking of Agfa’s aims for the Orca, Cotterill adds: “It’s designed for tomorrow, supporting converters as they expand into new markets with better print quality and a wider range of substrates.
“SpeedSet Orca is the crest of the digital wave, marking a new era for digital print and packaging.”
