The new machine was installed at the end of September and replaced two older DigiFold units at the Leicester-based business.
Flexpress managing director Steve Wenlock said: “Since the pandemic, our whole strategy has been to do more work without increasing the staff count. This has meant a combination of automating certain things such as pre-press and dispatch and speeding up other operations.
“Despite having two machines, creasing/folding was often still tying up staff for too long, so it made sense for us to put in a faster machine.
“We had a couple of older Morgana machines which we were able to part exchange for the new Morgana DigiFold Pro XL, and now we can crease and fold on one machine with just one member of staff the same volume of work used to take two machines and two staff members.”
The DigiFold Pro XL is built with an open design, and a suction feeder that handles stock sizes from 210-1,300mm in length. The heavy-duty automatic device is designed to complement mid-to-high volume digital and offset production presses.
It folds up to 6,000 A4 per hour, or in ‘crease only’ mode 7,500 per hour. It has a maximum loading capacity of 200mm, and the top-fed vacuum feeder ensures stable production for long runs. Full cross perforation is also available, along with the ability to add up to five inline perforation/scoring wheels. The machine is able to create up to 30 creases per sheet.
The DigiFold Pro XL is also designed to complement long sheet print capabilities and features a standard pull-out extension that enables sheet sizes up to 1,300mm to be handled with ease.
“We do also have a competitor’s product, but each machine has its own advantages and disadvantages, so having both options keeps all bases covered,” said Wenlock.
“We’ve had an association with Morgana for many years and their kit seems to always ‘do what it says on the tin’, and as they’ve always looked after us, we felt upgrading the Morgana DigiFold machines to the Pro XL made perfect sense.”
Wenlock added September was also the company’s best ever month, achieved with nine fewer staff than its previous best month.
“The run up to Christmas prompted us to get the machine in as quickly as possible to cater for the upsurge in greeting card orders that we typically receive at this time of year.
“The machine will also be used for four-page and six-page brochures. We also pre-crease thicker saddle-stitched booklet covers, and because the DigiFold Pro XL is quick and easy to set up, it’s handy for doing these too.”
Flexpress operates LED UV RMGT (Ryobi) litho presses and HP Indigo digital printers. Earlier this year it installed one of the first Horizon BQ-500 four clamp perfect binders in the UK to manage an increase in book printing orders.
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