While the firm has offered a rotary die-cutter since 2018, the AeroDieCut from Uchida is its first platen-style die-cutter. The list price for a base unit is £39,999, which is £25,000 less than Morgana's rotary device.

Morgana vice-president of offline business Ray Hillhouse said the new machine offers "an ideal entry-point to the highly lucrative die-cutting process" for businesses looking to bring the process in-house.

The 1,000sph AeroDieCut uses conventional cutting formes, up to 350x550mm, with a moving press roller that means a single forme can be used to step-and-repeat a single sheet up to five times, enabling the use of smaller formes and significantly reducing costs for shorter-run products.

As well as cutting, creasing and perfing it offers embossing and debossing on 365x550mm sheets up to 400gsm. The single-phase device has a compact footprint of 2.7x1.1m.

“Adding such capabilities as embossing can help a printer to offer something that little bit extra – making an invitation, or even a business card, really stand out and get noticed,” said Hillhouse.

“The price advantage provided by using a one-up forme in a step-and-repeat mode gives the printer additional margin that could otherwise be lost to the die maker.”

It comes as standard with Tri-suction Feeder, ultra-sonic sensor for double feed detection, cut-mark sensor to compensate for image shift and a four-inch colour touchscreen with 100 job memory storage. Options include a waste separating unit and conveyor table.

While new to Morgana, which has been a reseller for the Japanese manufacturer since 2018, the AeroDieCut was launched last year with a number of units already installed in Europe. It's available in the UK immediately, with Morgana recently taking delivery of its first machine.