Delivered on 19 November for an investment of £31,000, the machine is a fresh addition intended to work alongside a similar machine from Plockmatic, which has been integrated into a Ricoh C7100X five-colour digital printing system.

The attraction of the Duplo device for the Swindon-based company was its automated properties, as the Plockmatic can only run hand-fed when it stands alone from the Ricoh.

Managing director Jason Grubb told Printweek: “We looked at various models, such as Horizon and Morgana, and demoed all of them, but the Duplo stood out for its flexibility with both litho and digital, which helps as we cover a vast mix of clients and jobs.

“It is a green-button machine, which means we can put anyone on it once it’s running, and it also greatly improves our production speed.

“We already have another Duplo collator onsite which we installed four years ago. It’s still running, which is testament to its quality, and we will now keep both running together.”

The Duplo DBM 350 can take a maximum sheet size of 320x460mm and create books up to 320x230mm from paper weighing 60-300gsm. With PC-friendly controls and barcode reading capabilities, it runs at production speeds up to 200 sheets/min.

Already impressed with the DBM 350’s performance, Grubb is currently in talks with Duplo to take on a multi-finishing system worth up to £30,000 ahead of his company’s year-end on 31 January.

Orchard Press is on track to hit £1m turnover next year with the help of its recent investment, which fleshes out a production facility including the Ricoh digital printer, litho capabilities through an SRA3 RMGT (Ryobi) system, wide-format capabilities on a solvent Roland DG machine and a water-based Epson, as well as a variety of ancillary kit.

The firm employs 14 staff.