Jörg Scheffler, CEO, Motioncutter says…

Once upon a time, almost three decades ago now, we were printers. The pace of print technology’s evolution was exciting, but we were frustrated with the demands and constraints of finishing. We realised that if we wanted to scale, digital finishing was the golden ticket. We decided we didn’t want to wait around for someone else to solve this challenge, so we developed a solution ourselves, transitioning from a printer to a supplier and consultant to our customers, one that understands a printer’s real world problems. 



The bottleneck holding digital print back 

Today’s digital print technology is capable of producing hundreds of square metres of print per hour, delivering vibrant colours and photorealistic images, as well as a wide range of special effects and tactile finishes. These developments are transforming printed products, whether it’s highly personalised direct mail and premium packaging to branded stationery, eye catching labels, or bespoke marketing materials, ensuring they stand out and cut through all the digital noise.  

But, as presses become faster and more flexible, analogue finishing processes can quickly become a bottleneck in the production flow. Despite streamlined digital printing, finishing is still very often completed conventionally with multiple finishing stations that require hand feeding. Take a print business producing personalised greeting cards, for example. Their customer base expects short runs, fast turnarounds, and every card to contain different names, messages, and designs. The printing itself is quick and efficient, hundreds of unique cards can be produced in a single digital print run. But once those sheets come off the press, that printer’s real frustration begins. 



Each batch needs to be manually separated, stacked, and moved between different finishing stages like cutting, creasing, folding, and foiling. Operators spend hours hand feeding sheets into separate machines, constantly checking that they stay in the right order so personalised pieces aren’t mixed up. If one stage slows down or a stack is misplaced, the whole workflow is disrupted. What should have been a fast turnaround and high margin job suddenly becomes labour intensive and time consuming. 

And it’s not just greeting cards. The same challenge applies to personalised direct mail campaigns, packaging prototypes, or short run promotional items. While digital printing has transformed how quickly jobs can be produced, finishing often remains the sticking point. Every touchpoint adds time, increases the risk of errors, and requires more operators to keep production moving smoothly. 

When the printing is fast but the overall production is held back, it limits how much work a print business can take on and makes it harder to scale. Frustrating, right? 

Why scale demands a digital first finishing mindset 

We felt it when we were printers ourselves, and it’s still the case now - customer expectations never stand still. If anything, they’re speeding up. Turnaround times are shrinking and print buyers are seeking a wider choice of substrates, moving beyond paper to textured materials and 3D materials like wood or acrylic. At the same time there’s a growing demand for highly personalised, bespoke work, whether that’s variable data in direct mail, short run packaging, or customised greetings cards. All of this adds complexity, putting pressure on already tight margins and creating production environments that are unpredictable. 



This means that one thing is now crucial not just to a printer’s growth, but their survival - efficiency. Historically, the heavy manual operation and multiple touchpoints of manual finishing wasn’t so much of a challenge due to long, repeat print runs. But it becomes less efficient when handling hundreds of short, customised jobs in any one shift. 

This is where a digital first finishing mindset is key. Rather than treating finishing as separate, it needs to be integrated into a seamless, automated workflow that matches the capabilities of today’s digital print. These printing systems are designed to be able to handle job changes without stopping production and the result is less setup time, fewer errors, and a smoother transition from one job to the next. Digital finishing has evolved to a point that it now offers these same benefits, building consistency and repeatability into production - two factors that are essential for printers looking to scale. 

The efficiency opportunity 

Now for the really exciting thing. As well as enabling print businesses to scale and boost efficiency, digital finishing opens the door to new applications, greater customisation, and higher value work without increasing operational complexity. This is especially important as consumers seek out unique print products that stand out from the competition and are tactile and memorable. 

Developments in digital finishing mean that printers can now say yes to complex or creative work. Intricate cuts, embellishments, and multi-finish projects can now be automated and repeated with precision, all in a single pass. Motioncutter’s patented laser conveyor belt, for example, can handle flat laying sheets of 50gsm up to 500gms as well as 3D elements up to a height of 150mm and through laser digital finishing is capable of cutting, filigree cutting, kiss cutting, engraving, creasing, micro-performating, and variable data finishing, in one pass. It is an understatement to say that this hugely broadens the application possibilities. 

The future is already in motion 

When we developed the Motioncutter system, our goal was clear. We needed a digital finishing solution that could truly keep pace with modern printing technology, while removing the manual touchpoints that were slowing production down. Not the result of abstract engineering, but born from real challenges in the press room. Every system is engineered for precision without complexity. We know that print jobs vary, substrates differ, and sheet stacks are rarely the same. For example, when feeding from a pile, you’re often dealing with mixed jobs and varying material thickness. To balance processing speeds with quality demands, we embedded three operating modes in our Motioncutter digital finishing systems. 



For a commercial print provider producing high volume direct mail campaigns, continuous production enables simpler contour cuts on thin paper while maintaining speed and consistency. For a decorative greeting card printer working with heavier stock and detailed designs, for example, the ability to start and stop production enables intricate filigree patterns and high quality finishes. And for print businesses producing 3D products like packaging prototypes or layered promotional materials, a table system with external loadable trays in Static Mode enables the handling of more complex elements.

Digital finishing is no longer an emerging technology. It’s proven, production ready, and is delivering measurable ROI for printers who are ready to move beyond analogue constraints. The print industry has reached a pivotal moment, where continued growth, scalability, and profitability may depend on embracing digital finishing. Forward thinking print businesses are already using digital finishing to move faster and do more with less, while futureproofing their operations. 

The limitations of time consuming analogue finishing are becoming harder to ignore. Fortunately, the tools to overcome them are already here.

www.motioncutter.com