Peter Roe, general manager of the Nether Broughton, Leicestershire-based business, said that, in spite of all its safety features, he still harboured concerns about cutting smaller forms on the firm's 2.2x1.4m, 12-year-old clamshell platen.

"It has all the safety features you could think of and the operators have to switch it off completely before they do any work on the bed, but you always have concerns with smaller forms where the operator is having to lean into the machine," said Roe.

"The Goldline is practically foolproof; it lends itself very well to what we do and it's a flatbed machine, which alleviates those safety concerns versus clamshell platens."

Greenwoods' Goldline 1300 has a 1.4x1.1m maximum sheet size so the firm currently still uses its platen for larger work, although Roe said that he had requested a quote on a 2.2x1.7m Goldline 2100.

"We're going to give it three months and then make a decision on the larger machine," said Roe.

"The Goldline range is safer,smoother and the set-up is only about 10 minutes compared with 20-25 minutes. The running speed is probably at least 50% faster too."

Roe said that if Greenwoods does opt for the larger Goldline, it would take its total spend from £56,000 for the 1300 to around £180,000 for the two machines. He also praised Diecut UK for the speed with which they installed the 1300, which went in last month.

"The Goldline was out of the container, in the factory, installed and in operation within a few hours of arrival," said Roe. "We commenced training that day and the operators were soon proficient enough to complete a large order by the end of the first shift.

"This was down to the simple operation of the machine and the effective training given by Diecut UK."

Diecut UK sales executive Arran Sethi added: "The installation went extremely smoothly. Our engineer soon had a job on the machine showing the operators the features of the machine such as the instant electronic pressure settings, dwell mode, plate speed variation and all of the safety aspects of the machine as opposed to the traditional clamshell platen.

"This machine is perfect for Greenwoods as it alleviates a lot of the operator issues they were having on smaller-format work, using a larger die-cutter."