Fine Print Covers its Bases with Foliant
Stockport firm brings service in house for greater cost control

A return on investment of less than 18 months is anticipated by Fine Print after it expanded its bindery with a B2 Foliant Taurus 530SF laminator from IFS.

The Stockport family-run firm with 10 employees was founded by Jack Tilley in 1987. His sons Lee and Scott are now in charge of day-to-day operation.

Lee explains the decision was made to invest in lamination after installing a Ricoh Pro C751 digital press to run alongside Fine Print’s B2 Komori Lithrone and Heidelberg Printmaster. He says:

“Demand was increasing for short run lamination work and we didn’t have a way of doing it ourselves so we were outsourcing it. Because that involves a minimum set-up charge, it wasn’t really cost-effective. We thought it would make sound business sense to bring it in-house.”

“In the event we too the decision at just the right time because, since the investment, our suppliers have put their charges up. We had expected to achieve return on investment in 18 months but now I think we will be able to achieve that faster.”

There were a number of reasons why the Foliant Taurus was chosen by Fine Print explains Mr Tilley: “We liked the level of automation and the sheet size. Initially we were looking at SRA3 but that would have not covered all our work, meaning we would still have needed to outsource half the work and keep half the work in-house. The B2 system covers everything.”

Alternative equipment was considered but Mr Tilley says: “We did look at other options but we have a good relationship with IFS and they are always very helpful.”

The Foliant Taurus made an immediate impact to Fine Print’s production: “Our turnaround times are faster. Now when a customer sends us a job it can be printed in the morning and out the door in the afternoon. We can schedule more work now as well, so I think the laminator will make a difference to our business longer term, too. We can also actively offer the service to our customers.”

Fine Print’s fully automatic 30mpm Foliant Taurus 530SF has a rising pile back separation stream feeder and a suction paper feed head. It combines a feeder, laminator, and a sheet separator in a compact design.