The single-operator machine was launched on Tuesday (15 August) and is listed at £8,600, the same price as the DB-280 binder, which will now cease production. Duplo said the machine’s main USP is its ability to side-glue using its own dedicated glue tank. It will be distributed by Duplo’s UK dealer network.

“This is a direct replacement for the DB-280, which is a desktop perfect binder, and is just raising the bar a bit higher,” said Duplo head of digital marketing Alex North.

“It gives the end user at a low price point a more professional finished book with square spine.”

The side-glue tank allows operators to use fast-drying adhesive to support the shape of the book, speeding up makeready times. It is one of two new glue tanks on the machine, meaning different glues can be used on different parts of a product. 

“It’s pretty quick and very easy to use,” added North.

“Most entry-level machines only mill the bottom of the book and that’s pretty much it, you have to go quite a bit higher up in level to get milling and notching and we are offering this at a lower level.”

Operating at up to 200bph or 360cph and taking a maximum book thickness of up to 40mm at a maximum size of 320x400mm, the machine is suited to the production of soft cover books, tape bound books and notepads. 

North isolated a number of additional improvements on the DB-290 over the DB-280, including improved notching and binding and an improved clamping and nipping system, which grips pages automatically before the binding process begins. It also has a redesigned double rail for improved binding.

He finished: “The cheaper machines out there from China aren’t quite so well built, are slower and they don’t have a lot of features we have, so that tends to be where we hit most of the time.”

Duplo has already unveiled a number of new products this year, including its DDC-810 Sensory Coater and DC-746 with Integrated Folding System. It will showcase some of this equipment on its Northern Lights Tour, which kicks off next month in Newcastle.