The Corby, Northamptonshire-based business installed the kit at its litho packaging site in June. The machine is now fully operational and running at full speed.

According to sales and marketing director Dev Brahmachari, the £18m-turnover company has achieved considerable growth during the past three years and this is the firm's latest investment.

The die-cutter, which is estimated at around £650,000, is fitted with a camera system to register print, which allows the sheet to be corrected before the die-cutting process.

Brahmachari said: "It gives us fantastic accuracy when it comes to die-cutting. The machine is like buying a new BMW, it’s a little bit better than the last one."

The investment followed an increase in sales this year, with CRP experiencing a positive effect of the recession.

Brahmachari added: "We work with a lot of food manufacturers that deal with places like Aldi and Lidl and they are seeing around a 20% increase in sales at the moment. Being involved in a specialist sector certainly helps, although we are also well placed outside of those contracts."

He also said that the company will continue to invest in 2009, with new machines likely to be added later in the year.

The company, which is housed across three sites, all in Corby, currently employs 200 staff. It deals with predominantly blue-chip customers including Proctor & Gamble.