The 1.7m x 3.2m die-cutter will allow the company to process boards from its Fujifilm Inca Onset S40 digital printer, which it bought last year, and will help the company in its drive to increase its digital production from 25% to 50% of its total output.
Managing director Ian O’Connor said the machine would allow the company to speed up its turnaround and free up the bottle neck that it was experiencing at the cutting stage.
"At the moment we have to print on smaller boards, send them out to be die-cut and then get them back for hand-making. Now we will be able to do everything in-house and we won’t have to pay the ever-increasing transport costs."
O’Connor said Superior Creative would take on new staff as a result of the increase in digital output.
"I’d be surprised if we don’t take on half a dozen more people to take care of the digital printer, the die-cutter and the packing stage in the New Year."
The 135-staff, £15m-turnover company bought the machine from Diecut UK. O’Connor said it was being manufactured at the moment and would be delivered in January or February of next year.
He added that the company would consider buying another wide format digital printer next year.
"We are doing more and more cardboard engineering jobs for retail, such as pallet wraps and free-standing display units so increasing our wide format capability is a natural progression," he said.
