Taking delivery of the DBM-600 in March, the firm had it running almost immediately, even battling through a Printweek Awards-induced hangover to start production on the Friday.

Even in the short time it has been with the company, it has proved its worth, according to Chris Brady, managing director of Print4UK.

He told Printweek: “It’s a brilliant piece of kit.”

Beforehand, Print4UK had to hand-collate the text and covers of its booklets before running it through its older Kas bookletmaker: now, the Duplo collates all the material itself, speeding up the finishing process significantly.

Brady added: “To be honest, [the Duplo] is so easy to use and set up, that we haven’t actually used the Kas since getting it.”

Print4UK’s decision to buy a new bookletmaker was sparked by conversations on the production floor.

“We were getting held up, and were bringing extra hands to help,” said Brady, adding that the company was weighing up hiring a new finisher full-time against buying a new machine.

“I spoke to the guys on the factory floor, and they all agreed that it was probably a good idea to go with a very quick, automatic piece of kit.” 

The booklet jobs Print4UK runs through the DBM-600 range from tens of booklets to thousands, printed from the firm’s HP Indigo 7900 digital press.

Helped by increased production speeds unlocked by the DBM, the firm is looking to increase its turnover from £1.5m to just below £2m this year.

Once this is achieved, Brady said, Print4UK will look to move production facilities and buy a B2 press: a straightforward upgrade for the company, considering the fact its DBM-600 and existing Duplo PFi Blade digital cutting table can already handle B2 work.

“We’re locked in to where we are for another 18 months,” said Brady, “so that would be a good time to take the plunge.”