The MF-530 Auto-Feeder was launched at the end of November with a few cosmetic tweaks since its prototype showing at Drupa, according to Vivid marketing manager David Smith.

Vivid showed the final product, along with the Matrix laminator range, at Toronto’s Print World exhibition last month. It was exhibiting with its latest dealer, Sydney Stone, which exclusively sells the Matrix single sided laminating range in Canada since the contract was signed just before the show.

Smith said that around 10 machines across the range, including three MF-530 feeders, were sold directly from the show floor. The company expects to sell around 20 feeders a month over the next year and will next exhibit the product at Fespa UK in June.

Production began in early November when Vivid produced and sold 10 feeders immediately to direct users and a number of global distributors.

The feeder, which runs up to 5m per minute, or 1,000 SRA3 landscape sheets an hour, was developed based on feedback for global distributors. Those selling the MX-530 laminator found that their clients were crying out for automatic feeding to cut production time.

Vivid’s technical manager Gavin Ward said: "We have known for some time that there has been a market demand for a fully automatic feeder for our Matrix Systems.

"And with the auto-feeder installed, the operator is free to work on other print jobs."

The MF-530 is aimed at lower volume markets and is particularly popular with the digital print market, although it can also process litho sheets.

Smith added that there was "every possibility" that the company would develop automatic feeders for the other laminators in the Matrix range, the MX-370 and MX-700 depending on the success of the MF-530.

The MF-530 is available now at a recommended retail price of £4,495 from a wide network of UK and worldwide distributors.