Portobello Press Makes Triple IFS Investment
Laminator, folder and shrinkwrapper complete bindery service portfolio
London commercial printer Portobello Press has expanded its range of bindery services following a triple investment in Intelligent Finishing Systems-supplied solutions.
The £3.5m turnover firm whose customer base comprises of a wide range of blue chip operations, local businesses and charities, has added a Foliant Gemini 400A laminator, a Horizon PF-40L paper folder and an Italdibipack Espert 4050 EV semi-automatic shrinkwrapper.
It was a significant contract win that kicked off the spend on the entry level 15 mpm Foliant Gemini 400A, with a fast warm up and interactive touch screen. “It required us to provide short run digital lamination,” explains Managing Director Iain Storey. “The contract was for a number of years so that gave us the confidence to make the investment and with the minimum charges involved in outsourcing it made financial sense.”
After reviewing the options on the market Mr Storey chose the Foliant for a number of reasons: “Operation was very simple which makes life for our bindery team easy as they can move around from system to system freely. It has a small footprint so was easy to find space for and the fact it runs off a 13 amp plug means we can quickly turn it on and set it up which allows us job flexibility. There is no warm up time – particularly important for short run work.”
He adds: “We think it will comfortably pay for itself within three years but we will now look to push the service and if it takes off then return on investment will be significantly quicker.”
The affordable small footprinted Horizon PF-40L replaced a larger aging folder. Mr Storey says he liked its high versatility, ease of set up and programmability. “It is a very professional folder. While it doesn’t have all the adjustment range of the previous folder we are still able to make changes and achieve all the folds we need,” he comments.
Featuring a uniquely designed suction rotor feeding mechanism that can handle a wide variety of paper stocks from 52.3gsm up to 157gsm, the PF-40L can store up to 20 jobs for instant recall. It assures a crisp, tight fold quality thanks to its high grip urethane rubber fold rollers.
Portobello’s spend also included an Italdibipack Espert 4050 EV semi-automatic shrinkwrapper. Easy to use it is ideal for low to medium run lengths. Adds Storey: “We wanted to improve the final look of the product and this is something that will be especially useful for the very short run work. It also adds a layer of protection.”
