Knapp left KBA in July 2013 and took a sabbatical in North America.

He has now returned to print by setting up distribution firm CMD Insight, located in Toronto.

“I like the industry and the people in it, and on a worldwide basis it’s a good industry to be in,” Knapp said.

CMD Insight has distribution agreements for the territory with British photonic digital printer developer Lumejet, digital effects firm Scodix and laser-cutting company LasX Industries.

Knapp’s agreement with US manufacturer LasX extends to the UK as well.

“LasX wants to grow in Canada and Europe, and I quickly realised I could help them,” Knapp said. “Their equipment allows digitisation all the way to the finished product. It brings that digital element to the finishing process.”

LasX equipment can be used for applications such as digital die-cutting, perforating, scoring, etching and other types of cutting application. Its modular LaserSharp system can be fully automated using robotics, and can be driven using barcodes or data matrix codes. Pricing starts at around £165,000.

Potential applications include packaging, labels and greetings cards.

LasX has dubbed the combination of laser cutting with high-speed robotics “extreme finishing”, as seen in the YouTube video below, where dual robots are shown picking 360 items per minute.

“The modularity is a major benefit,” Knapp explained. “The discussion with customers is about productivity, and what is the right solution for their workflow and work mix.”

He cited the example of a US customer running multiple digital presses and LasX cutters to produce bespoke batches of labels and tags inline, from reels to finished product.

“Every label can be different,” Knapp added.

Knapp has already sold one system to an as-yet-unnamed UK customer. It is due to be installed in the spring.

"Extreme finishing" video by LasX Industries