The system will replace a two-year-old Duplo 5000, with the main selling point being the new version’s intelligent feeding system, said managing director Martyn Young.

“This will allow us to feed digital and litho sections together in one machine,” he said, explaining that this would allow variable data jobs, black and white with coloured section booklets and jobs with pre-supplied litho covers, to be produced efficiently.

The system, which has a list price of £108,000, was bought as part of a wider investment push. The company has invested over £1m over the past 12 months, including on a Presstek 52DI digital offset press bought in February and a £40,000 Horizon AFC-566A folder from Intelligent Finishing Systems, also bought on day one of Ipex.

“The aim is to grow 30%-40% this year,” said Young. “We’re basically just trying to stay ahead of the competition. We did look at other manufacturers but it was the versatility of the machine that swung it. Duplo are market leaders in this area and we want to be at the forefront of that.”

The D50-10/60i 5000 was launched at London Calling last year. It’s so far been installed at 15 sites, all in the UK.