Installed in October and January 2023, the digital cutters have proved their worth, with Wizbit now able to produce almost all of its packaging in-house.

The firm, which duplicates audio on CDs, cassettes, minidiscs and USBs for hundreds of record labels, including Warner, Sony, and Universal, also prints directly on the media.

Managing director Paul Martin explained that the company had previously used a basic slitter-creaser that was unable to produce some of the CD and DVD sleeves and packs.

“The new Blade machines allow us to print and cut almost anything,” he told Printweek.

“We are now doing nearly all packaging in-house, apart from very large runs. It has given us a lot more control: we can now do colour matching in-house, rather than having to wait for packaging to come in before we print the cassette tapes, for instance.”

Wizbit’s runs range from just 20 for niche and unknown artists to over 7,000 for major performers like Dua Lipa.

Martin added that he was pleased with the value he’d gained from the PFi investments.

“Once they were in, they didn’t take long to get working. They’ve proved to be very reliable,” he said.

“We weren’t really expecting to get a second but it turned out to be so valuable that we just didn’t want to be without it, and wanted to have a spare in case of any issues.

“A lot of our customers are quick turnarounds, which is also why we ended up getting a second.”

The team had originally looked at other cutting machines, getting a quote from Summa. In the end, however, the PFi Blades’ low price point – less than half of the Summa – and automatic feeder won the sale.

The machines now work to cut material produced on Wizbit’s Xerox C60 printer with gold silver white clear conversion; it largely uses Mimaki wide-format presses to print on the CDs and cassettes.

Wizbit employs 23 staff, turning over around £2m annually.