The Liverpool-based business purchased a new DC-618 multi-finisher from Duplo strategic partner AfterPrint. It was installed in late May and replaced a six-year-old DC-616, which was part-exchanged.
Founded in 2014, digital printer Invitebay specialises in the production of personalised printed products, mainly event invites, business cards, and flyers, which it sells via various online portals.
Invitebay owner Kevin Oakford said: “We loved the old DC-616, it was such an easy machine to run, it practically did everything we asked of it. It’s a robust, well-engineered and very well thought out device.
“What we were looking at doing was to expand our product portfolio and to be able to finish thicker stock and give our customers a wider choice in substrates and designs.
“The new DC-618 ticks all those boxes, but it’s much more of a production device than the older model. It’s much faster – almost double the speed, it can slit, cut, perf, and crease up to 400gsm, it has a new PC control system, which is much easier to navigate, and we can store every single template on the device.
“We currently have a large number of templates that all our customers find really convenient to use, so we already have them loaded into the multi-finisher so the jobs can be linked up and cut without any manual intervention. I’ve also found that the DC-618 is actually more precise with its cutting.”
He added: “I’m really looking forward to seeing how much time the new DC-618 will save us, especially with the cutting and packaging of the new products we’ve recently launched.
“The automation is much better, meaning our operators can get on with other jobs, like packing the finished jobs or loading the printer whilst the print is being finished. It’s also quite a bit more user friendly than its predecessor. Overall, we’re thoroughly impressed and happy with the machine.”
Oakford said that as the majority of the company’s business is based around parties, weddings, corporate events, and business cards, by April/May 2020 demand had fallen by 90% due to coronavirus restrictions “so we put the business into hibernation until the world settled down”.
“During this time, we looked into new avenues to market and explored various online marketplaces including Amazon, the close down period gave us time to focus so some good did come of the shutdown overall.
“Fortunately, with the new routes to market and the significant lift of restrictions around Christmas we saw a surge in demand for our products and we have not looked back since. We are now operating at close to full capacity based on our pre-pandemic figures and if anything, we are getting more business.”
