Delivered in early September for an investment of £42,000, the Duplo machine will enhance Proper Goose’s capabilities for specialist applications, including belly bands and wood-cased books.

Based close to Duplo’s Addlestone base, managing director Mark Gosling had long been aware of the manufacturer’s offering and the capabilities of the DC-646 Pro, entering into discussions about an investment after seeing a live demonstration.

He said: “This is a new addition to our kit that will make life much easier for us – we can now cut everything we need to very accurately, and it saves us masses of time.

“Some of the substrates we use can often go up to 350gsm and we do a wide array of products that require this kind of high-quality cutting, such as tray inserts, notebooks, business cards and greetings card – all to very different specifications.

“We can now offer a number of these services to our customers at a very competitive rate and we have been very happy with the results so far, so I can see us investing in Duplo again in the future.”

Running at a maximum speed of 30 sheets/min, the Duplo DC-646i Pro can take papers from 110-350gsm at a maximum sheet size of 370x999.9mm. It is installed with image shift autocorrect capabilities and automated setup.

It will run alongside a variety of technology at Proper Goose’s 186sqm base, including a Xerox Versant 80 and two Mimaki UV printers, as well as machinery for laser and wood cutting. Gosling next intends to focus on expanding his firm’s wood-case book offering as well as white label low-volume gift production.

His team currently consists of six members of staff.