After two days of intense discussions and demonstrations with customers from the north, Duplo UK’s second Northern Lights event, which took place at The Royal Armouries in Leeds (8-9 March), has drawn to a successful conclusion.
Managing director Peter Jolly reflected on a show that he said had “exceeded expectations”, with the ratio of actual visitors to pre-registrations being far higher than in 2015, when Northern Lights first took place.
Duplo UK successfully signed orders worth £350,000 for new equipment in Leeds, with a pipeline of a further one million pounds to follow up. Among the companies who chose to invest in Duplo technology at Northern Lights was first-time Duplo customer, trade printer RouteOne Print, which invested in a Duplo DC-746 multifinisher to help it offer a new one-day express turnaround service on certain simple marketing products such as flyers and business cards.
Director Adam Carnell said: “At the moment everything goes through the guillotines and we wanted to separate this work out. The automation of the DC-746 set it apart from the other options on the market: the speed of set-up and the variety of products we can put through it. Quality is another key: we had to make sure that we couldn’t see a difference between our guillotine-cut products and the products the DC-746 produces.”
An iSaddle investment was made by Stockport-based NHS-specialist SF Taylor, which has been a Duplo customer for many years and continues to invest in latest printing technology. “Our key focus is to deliver cost effective solutions to our customers, and to do this we have to become smarter,” said Managing Director Simon Young. “The iSaddle will help achieve further automation and drive more efficiencies through the business. It was the perfect product to complement our business and support our continued investment strategy.”
Another customer drawn to the iSaddle was KJB Print in Cannock, Staffordshire. Its recent purchase of Ricoh C7100 and C9100 presses with 700mm long banner sheet capability meant it was looking to be able to finish A4 landscape products in-house. “Commercially the iSaddle was right for our customers,” said Managing Director Stephen Egerton. “We consider Duplo to be a true partner. We work closely together and when we have issues they are always consultative and efficiently supportive.”
Northern Lights drew together a number of additional technology partners, giving visitors the opportunity to take in advancements from paper through to industrial finishing.
“Our customer forum before the show indicated that people wanted to see wider finishing applications and industrial finishing, and the partnerships have added real value to the event. I think all partners have gained real value from the show,” said Peter Jolly.
“We also ran a particularly successful ‘clinic’ style area for operators, where actual users of our 5000 booklet system and our technical staff were able to help customers achieve best practice in running their finishing kit.”
