Barry Pearson has does not care how quickly his new Horizon SPF/FC-200A stitch/fold/trim line supplied by Intelligent Finishing Systems Ltd will pay for itself.
The Managing Director of the Doncaster general commercial printer Expert Print is so confident in the ability of the system that he knows it will not only earn its keep but also prove to be a profitable addition to the operation’s post press department.
“We work with the best and invest in the best equipment,” states Mr Pearson. He established the firm five years ago with a letterpress after distributing leaflets and seeing the demand for a design and print work. Today the business has 25 employees and a £4m turnover.
“Our aim is to offer our customers the best service,” he explains adding the Horizon SPF/FC-200A will run alongside an existing Muller Martini line. “We want to say yes and they only want to hear yes. That is why we try to have two of everything. Customers don’t want to hear a job is going to be late because this stopped working or that spare part is on its way. All customers want is a fast, high quality service.”
It is this approach that has led Mr Pearson to deliver all types of print run lengths with his lithe presses: “I run two Heidelberg SpeedMasters and the set up can be completed in minutes. I know the quality is good so then I just need to decide whether the print run is profitable. As long as customers get good quality work in the time frame they require they will keep coming back.”
Expert Print already operates a Horizon BQ270V and a Horizon AFC544 folder so Mr Pearson was well aware of the standard highly automated features including intuitive icon-based touchscreen set up: “I know Horizon systems. They are easy and quick to set up and simple to use. With our Muller Martini work could take a long time to finish. You would need guillotine the sheets, fold sections and then set up on the Muller. A job that could take four hours now takes minutes.
“We had one customer that placed an order for 1,000 booklets on a Monday for delivery a few hours away on Wednesday. That put the pressure on but now we can be more flexible knowing that we can produce the work quicker.”
The 4,500bph JDF-ready Horizon SPF/FC-200A features a 200-programme job memory storage for instant recall, an icon-based touch-screen for job set-up and a 10-station VAC-Turbo 1000 PowerCollator.
