Mailmate Print has completed a company-wide spend, that began with a Sakurai 466 LED UV press, with investment in a highly automated Horizon SPF-200L bookletmaker and a VAC-1000 tower collator from IFS.
Founded in 1991, the Jersey operation was the first printer in the Channel Islands to invest in LED UV to complement its litho and digital capabilities.
The addition of the new press prompted a broad review that included enhancing the bindery with the bookletmaker.
In recent years the commercial business has also expanded its service offering with banners, vehicle graphics and clothing. Neil Faudemer, Managing Director, explains: “We have broadened our offering but at the same time stayed true to our core business. That strategy is paying off as we have remained competitive with other UK operations.”
He continues: “To support our high quality commercial print production we wanted a more substantive bookletmaker. We liked the Horizon as it is very robust. It also manages long and short run litho and digital print. We consider it to be the market leader in this area. It has fitted in perfectly.”
The 4,500bph Horizon SPF-200L landscape feed bookletmaker combines stitching and folding with the ability to handle sheets up to 640mm in length. JDF-ready, it offers instant set-ups via a large icon-based colour touchscreen for user-friendly operation. The screen can be used for on-the-run fine tune adjustments as well as the storage and recall of up to 200 jobs.
Adds Faudemer: “It is fast in terms of productivity and we liked its build quality. It has only just been installed but we have already completed a time in motion study and there has been a significant improvement in our timelines. It has made an extremely positive impact on finishing workflow.
“We normally have a five year plan regarding the lifetime of systems but we expect this will be in operation for a lot longer than that.”
“We have been impressed by the support from IFS,” he concludes: “The speed and efficiency of the installation met the timeframe we needed.”
