The exhibition specialist, based near Brighton, started out life building outdoor exhibitions for photographers - but now manufactures and installs various types of exhibitions, information graphics and bespoke curations. 

With business trending towards acrylic work - especially mounting onto acrylic - it decided it had to invest in what founder Tom Snell calls “the clean machine”.

“We do lots of mounting onto acrylic, and to be able to print registration marks, cut it all out, polish the edges, has been absolutely brilliant - a real step forward for us, and we’re doing more and more of it,” he said.

The new cutting table, installed in August, has allowed the firm to split its cutting work in half - with wood and metal routed in its basement workshop.

Standard 8 bought the Kongsberg from CMYUK, with whom it had an existing relationship as supplier of many of its materials.

Snell and his team, therefore, knew where to buy a cutter - but not which one. Stuck between the Kongsberg and a Zund, he eventually went with the former.

“The Kongsberg pricing was just right for us, but in addition, I know other users who speak very highly of this digital cutter, telling me that it’s transformed their businesses,” he said.

Standard 8 decided to buy the version of the X24 Edge that includes Kongsberg’s MultiCut milling tool head.

Snell said: “We’re interested in the additional services that we can offer with this equipment, which means a steeper learning curve for us. 

“We’re thinking, for example, about how we can use it for alternative displays. We also want to look into the Braille option, as that’s something that comes up quite a bit. There is so much to explore, and at the moment, we’re just scratching at the surface.”