If you bump into a Duplo International representative at some point, it might be worth checking out their new high-tech business card. It’s not a glossy or elaborately finished card, but it contains a square made up of what looks like pixels. It is in fact an up-code. If you scan the code with your mobile phone, you can connect to a Duplo web page that contains more details of the individual you’ve just met. It’s clever stuff and neatly illustrates what Duplo is striving to do in the finishing market, which it describes as the ‘Cinderella’ of the print sector.
We are trying to get ahead of the game, explains Andy Pike, retail marketing executive at Duplo. Duplo came from a traditional litho background, but has moved more and more into digital.
Over the years, the decision to make digital finishing the core of what Duplo does has proved to be a shrewd move. With digital ever-changing and with an increasing number of print firms making investments, Duplo’s range has been picked up by companies recognising the need to finish short-run products in-house. One of the most innovative products in its arsenal is the DC-645 – a slitter-creaser-cutter.
The DC-645 has been around for a few years, but the good thing about it is that it has been evolving, says Pike.
It first made its appearance at Ipex 2006 and was one of Duplo’s big draws at the event. The latest incarnation of the machine, the DC-645e, made its debut at Duplo’s London event last September. In addition to its finishing capabilities, the machine now incorporates Duplo’s remote service system ‘e tandem’ – hence the ‘e’ in the name. There’s also the option to include Duplo’s new integrated folding system (IFS), and it has JDF capability.
Helping hand
The remote ‘e tandem’ service feature means we can monitor any issues, explains Pike. If something is about
to go wrong, we can give the customer a quick call. We can advise the customer over the phone as to how to change
the settings.
But the main selling point of the machine is its versatility. Duplo always knew that the machine was well suited to short-run business cards, greetings cards, brochures and menus. But as time has gone on, there have been a host of new applications that have helped Duplo to push the DC-645e into a wider market.
In order to demonstrate the range of applications, Duplo has put together a glossy pack of four pocket guides containing examples of work. The company believes this is the best way to demonstrate to potential customers just what the machine can do and how it goes beyond the kind of work that might be taken on by a jobbing printer.
Examples range from conventional business cards, flyers or mini-calendars, to wine labels, food packaging, direct mail and clothing tags.
Hopefully, the DC-645 will enable printers to say yes to every job, adds Pike. Food packaging is one area, for example, that we haven’t fully attacked yet, but, the machine is capable of finishing card sleeves to go around sandwich packaging.
Range of options
Despite the wide range of applications, Pike says that around 90% of customers will use the DC-645 for business cards. It’s a simple machine to operate and can finish up to 26 A4 sheets per minute on stock ranging from 110-350gsm. It can store 80 jobs in its memory, although it’s more likely that users will need only 10-15 programmes for regular jobs and another 10 for ad-hoc work.
Set-up is relatively straightforward. In fully automatic mode, a register mark and a barcode at the top of the sheet can be scanned, which enables the machine to automatically adjust the slitting devices and the two knives for cutting, plus the creaser. Once fed through, up to six functions can be operated in one pass. Also, there is an finishing module that can be fitted for perforation and rotary scoring.
Modular equipment is very well suited to the digital market, explains Pike. Digital machines change around every two years and if our customers are not evolving, then their lifespan is very short.
With digital runs increasing and demand on the up, Duplo’s optional addition, IFS, makes sense. The product can be bolted onto the end of the DC-645, as well as its sister machine, the DC-445. The five IFS modules are folder, straight conveyor, cross conveyor, short stacker and long stacker. It is modular so that it can fit the customer’s exact requirements, says Pike.
It’s this option that allows the DC-645 to be even more versatile. According to Duplo, the core module of the range is a folder that includes two folding knives allowing seven common fold patterns for heavyweight sheets. This is done without toner cracking, which can be a problem for buckle-type sheet folders that finish digital jobs. Crucially, all this is done in one pass.
The twin-knife folding module can finish a range of formats, although the manufacturer adds that this isn’t essential to the system. The customer has the option of using the IFS simply as a high-capacity stacker allowing for longer uninterrupted runs. It can also be configured to merge sequentially printed items into one sack, reducing additional handling by the operator.
Price consideration
Taking the IFS option does bump up the price. For the DC-645e alone, the list price is £27,595. However, with the various IFS and additional modules, that figure can rise to £50,000 depending on specification.
Trying to compare the DC-645 to other machines in the market is tricky. Pike says it’s almost unfair to compare, but machines that might move into its area are the Morgana Card Xtra, the Morgana Autocreaser or even Duplo’s very own DC-445; this product has the added functionality of adding two slits or perferations. The Card Xtra can cut and has fixed slits, but Pike adds that the machine can’t crease, perforate or fold.
The advantage for Duplo is having a machine that can pretty much do the lot, which fits in with the manufacturer’s strategy of making finishing an integral part of the digital print process.
We are making our products fit with digital production, says Pike. We are making it easy for them to finish applications and create an end-to-end solution for the printer.
With many digital print companies now taking finishing in-house, the DC-645e could be viewed as a machine that has come along at the right time for the industry. While it’s likely to be churning out business cards and leaflets, it’s also versatile enough to accommodate a whole host of new applications that digital printers are developing all the time.
Duplo hopes that with the enhancements of IFS and e tandem, the DC-645e can continue to push the high-tech reputation it’s developing.
SPECIFICATIONS
Max stock weight 350gsm
Max stock size 370x650mm
Speed 26 sheets per minute (based on A4, four side trim, one crease)
Dimensions 750x2,240x1,115mm
Weight 360kg
Min finished paper size 48x85mm
IFS max stock size 370x480mm
IFS speed 45 sheets per minute
Price £27,595 (for DC-645e without optional extras)
Contact Duplo International 0137 246 8131 www.duplointernational.com
THE ALTERNATIVES
Caslon Zip21
The Zip21 is a SRA3 slitter-cutter-creaser machine targeting high-street print shops and larger digital print companies. Printed sheets are fed through slitting wheels, which cut a sheet into strips. A cross cutter cuts those strips into rectangles.
Max stock size 320mm (width)
Max stock weight 350gsm
Max speed 451 SRA3 sheets per hour
Price £6,950 (basic machine)
Contact Caslon 01727 852211 www.caslon.co.uk
Duplo DC-445
The DC-445 targets a range of digital operations, including copy shops, small to medium-sized commercial printers, larger printers with digital departments and inplants. It's a baby version of Duplo's DC-615 PRO and is a standalone wheel-up matrix creaser. The feeder can be set at an ergonomically-comfortable height for reloading: when the stack is empty, the tray automatically lowers itself to the pre-set height. In addition there's a 30-job memory and the crease positions are adjustable in increments of 0.1mm.
Max sheet size 320x650mm
Max stock weight 350gsm
Max speed 3,000sph (one crease in an A4 sheet)
Price £8,295
Contact Duplo International 0137 246 8131 www.dulpointernational.com
Morgana AutoCreaser 33
A more specific creasing product, the AutoCreaser 33 has a job memory of up to nine programs and handles much heavier stock. It also has automatic makeready and a crease position adjustment of 0.1mm. In addition, there is an optional jogger. The machine uses a heavy-duty creasing die and matrix for a wide variety of materials. Morgana says that this gives good quality particularly if the grain is running in the wrong direction or where cracking occurs on the substrate caused by the printing system.
Max sheet size 330x630mm
Max stock weight 400gsm
Max speed 5,000sph (one crease in an A4 sheet)
Price £9,277
Contact Morgana Systems 01908 608888 www.morgana.co.uk
Morgana Card Xtra
While Duplo stresses that this device is not a like-for-like rival to the DC-645e, it is targeted at the business card market. It's a smaller and cheaper alternative using drop-in cutting cassettes for different job types with a range of eight pre-set cassettes and a user-configurable one.
Max stock size 330x235mm
Max stock weight 325gsm
Max speed 8,400 cards per hour
Price £8,350 (including one cutter and service for one year)
Contact Morgana Systems 01908 608888 www.morgana.co.uk
