Petratto install enables self-mailer production at First Move

First Move Direct Marketing has installed a Petratto Metro folder-gluer in order to increase the flexibility of its offering.

Supplied by Intelligent Finishing Systems (IFS), the machine was delivered to direct mail printer First Move’s High Wycombe premises in the first week of January. It will enable the firm to offer self-mailer production for the first time.

Its modular design allows the Petratto machine to be customised and reconfigured to suit the specific needs of any job. This will enable First Move to accommodate the needs of 200 clients across a wide range of sectors, according to managing director David Amor.

“This is a system with a number of different elements that can be moved around a fixed chassis,” said Amor. “Self-mailers are something we have wanted to do for a while, and now we will be able to supply this new service.

“I had investigated other ways of filling our requirements but what I wanted was not just a straightforward solution, rather the ability to vary what we can do. Through the Petratto, we gain flexibility.”

Several units can be connected along the Petratto Metro to produce complex applications, and these units can also be separated to run as separate machines. Possible modules to add include feeders, folding sections and turning devices.

Running at a maximum speed of 120m/min, Amor described the new machine as a “long-term investment” and that First Move will continue to find many ways of working with it. He also said that the firm would be looking to make more investments and installations in the near future.

“We continue to look forward to the future with enthusiasm and new ideas, and have a number of developments incoming,” he said.

£8m-turnover First Move bought the UK’s first Xerox Trivor 2400 at Drupa in 2016. A Xerox house, the company’s plant list features an iGen4, Versant technology and five Nuvera 314 mono machines.

Its 55-strong team fulfils a variety of direct mailing services from its 3,500sqm premises.