"Relentless competitive pressures on our customers have led us to create this unprecedented and high-output system," said Spartanics president Bill Knotts.

The US firm says the 760mm-wide version of the M500 will cost from around 111,000 and offer printers and converters worldwide the best throughput for wallet-sized or smaller die-cut pieces in 72pp or 96pp sheets.

The die-cutting systems re-register at each press stroke, at production rates of up to 165 stokes per minute, with an accuracy of +/- 0.1mm or better.

Wallet-card sized piece outputs, for example, could be doubled using the M500, but with only a 35%rise in equipment costs, he said.