The Bristol company, which moved to its current premises in 2019, took delivery of the new PFi Blade B2+ in August.
Owner Andy Bird said: “Moving the business and relocating staff has led to us moving to a more strategic outlook. I’m now more able to run the company as a business leaving [managing director] Richard Hughes to deal with workflow and our processes.
“We pretty much produce everything in-house but with volumes getting smaller, we’ve found the number of orders has increased and is increasing, we required an easy-to-use digital cutting table.”
He added: “I’ve been pleasantly surprised with Duplo since purchasing the 600i bookletmaker in late 2017. It’s not the type of machine we normally would have purchased, but it has become invaluable. The sheer range of jobs that can be put through the machine, not limited to booklets, is amazing.
“I have the same feeling with the new PFi Blade. It’s a great addition to our ever-growing list of equipment. We’re discussing ideas with designers now for concept designs to enhance our products. I’m sure we’ll be getting much more out of the machine than we originally intended.”
Requiring no physical dies, the PFi Blade B2+ can handle a wide range of materials up to 6mm thick and has an auto feeder for sheets from A4 to 800x600mm. Its top cutting speed of 1,200mm per second equates to around 12-45 seconds per SRA3 sheet, depending on complexity.
The device will open new revenue streams for Folio including prototyping, labels, and short run bespoke boxes, particularly for packaging customers’ jobs.
“Due to the vast range of products and jobs we produce, purchasing generic boxes is not ideal – printed products need to arrive well packaged, and protected, giving our customers the peace of mind they need to order again with us,” said Bird.
“But now after seeing what the machine can do, and some of the applications Duplo has shown us, it has the ability to open up new opportunities and to adapt to new market conditions.
“We can offer our current customers more products then ever but with the Folio mark of quality and precision. Customers have already noticed improvements in professionalism and better services. We expect this to only get better.”
