reliability. Hudson also recommends user friendly operation, scalability for growing businesses and high return on investment. Leading on from this, he picks out some of the options available through Plockmatic. Among these is the Morgana DigiFold Pro XL, the latest addition to the DigiFold family. This heavy-duty automatic creasing and folding system is designed to complement mid-to high-volume digital and offset production presses. “The Morgana DigiFold Pro XL features a standard pull-out extension that enables sheet sizes up to 1,300mm,” Hudson says, continuing: “It opens doors to new applications, such as covers for landscape booklets, book covers for oversized perfect bound books, multi-panel brochures, and many other applications made from these long sheets.” Another option is Morgana’s DigiFold Ultra, which Hudson says provides all-inone finishing in one pass: slit, cut, crease, perforate, and fold in one pass. This, he adds, helps streamline post-press workflows and reduce manual handling. “Robustly designed to complement mid- to high-volume digital and offset production presses, the DigiFold Ultra is versatile and has a compact footprint,” Hudson says, adding: “It builds on top of the capabilities of the DigiFold Pro XL by adding in slitting and cutting functionality for full-bleed trim applications. “It can produce everything the DigiFold Pro XL can, but now with full bleed trim, in a single pass. High-quality applications such as full-bleed six- or eight-panel brochures become an easy task even for A4 landscape finished formats.” Major Role in Productivity Also in this sector is Duplo, whose head of sales for the UK, Craig Harry, says quality creasing, folding, and collating equipment protects work, improves accuracy, and ensures that the final piece looks as good as the customer expects. “Even the best print can be ruined if the fold cracks or the creasing is inconsistent,” Harry says, continuing: “As run lengths get shorter and turnaround times get tighter, these systems also play a major role in productivity. When a single device can slit, cut, crease, perforate, and even fold in one pass, you remove handling and reduce labour. “Underinvesting in finishing equipment often creates hidden costs; manual steps increase the chances of mistakes, jobs take longer, and operators spend more time feeding, unloading or babysitting older machines. Bottlenecks may also appear, especially in busy environments where the finishing department is already under pressure, while labour shortages make this even worse because time spent on avoidable manual work slows everything down. “The impact can be commercial as well as operational. A mis-folded brochure or cracked spine can lead to reprints and unhappy customers. It only takes a few quality issues to damage a printer’s reputation.” So, what should PSPs be looking for when investing in new equipment in this sector? Harry says there several key features printers should demand, including the all-important area of automation. He recommends looking for systems with barcode-driven job recall, automatic setup, and direct integration with workflow tools like Fiery and Ultimate Impostrip – all of which reduce setup time, cut out touchpoints, and ensures every job is consistent. Harry also says to keep an eye out for accuracy and features like registration mark scanning and image shift compensation, which ensure cuts, creases, and folds land precisely where they should, even if the printed image shifts slightly on the sheet. Leading on from this, he says versatility is also critical, in that a strong finishing solution handles everything from small cards to long sheets, from lightweight digital stocks to thick and textured materials — and across multiple finishing tasks (slit, cut, crease, and fold) in one unit. Finally, ease of use and features like touchscreen interTechnology-rich solutions are also increasingly able to help tackle another industry pressure – a shortage of skills Duplo Corporation, which includes Duplo UK, began life as Nissin Seiko Corporation in 1956 1956 CREASING, FOLDING, AND COLLATING | ROB FLETCHER ▼ The Morgana DigiFold Pro XL is the latest addition to the DigiFold family at Plockmatic Group 46 Issue 358 - January | February 2026 email: editor@printmonthly.co.uk
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