Runcorn commercial printer PS2 Print hopes a triple investment in highly automated bindery solutions from Intelligent Finishing Systems will help it increase turnover more than 30% before the end of 2015.
A Horizon SPF/FC-200L, Horizon CRF-362 and Foliant Taurus 530SF laminator replaced existing solutions to improve production efficiency throughout the bindery department.
“We are aiming to increase our turnover to £3.5m from £2.6m over the next 2 years,” explains Operations Director Peter Lewis. “We also intend to increase our margins with improved productivity.”
He expands: “Our core customer base is print buyers with price sensitivity a key factor in their decision-making process. So we needed systems in the bindery that are quicker and simpler to set up. Finishing is the last stage in the process that is price driven. Prices have fallen over the years and there is no way to drive them back up. So you have to work smarter and get work completed faster.”
Mr Lewis adds: “It is all about looking at ways to increase our offering to service fast growing areas. We need to make ourselves a more effective business by offering more capabilities more efficiently.”
The firm began as a digital printer in 1995 and today operates a Kodak Nexpress, Xerox 700, Xerox 95 and Xeikon 5000. It later moved into litho to meet demand for broader run capabilities and currently runs a B2 Heidelberg SX74. Large format is also a growing market and PS2 Print has systems from Mimaki, Roland, HP and Oce.
PS2 Print’s twin tower 4,500 bph Horizon SPF/FC-200L was chosen as it can handle both litho and digital print. It incorporates all the highly automated features of the successful SPF/FC200A bookletmaker plus the ability to feed A4 landscape sheets up to 640mm in length. JDF-ready, the system 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 store and recall of up to 200 jobs.
“The ability to complete landscape work is a real bonus. Before we would have hand-fed the work on a saddlestitcher. Running it on the Horizon SPF/FC-200L gives us more flexibility. The bookletmaker is easy to use and it was up and running immediately. Now we are faster and can complete more runs which is the only way to compete more effectively and become more profitable.”
Speed of throughput was a key factor in the choice of the Horizon CRF-362 creaser folder. It delivers high quality folded products on a wide range of lighter and cover weight stocks, coated or uncoated. “It creases on the top and bottom which means we don’t have to put the work through twice now. It is also easy to set up with the same touchscreen controls as the Horizon SPF/FC-200L which makes operation easier.
“A good piece of kit,” is how Mr Lewis described the 30mpm Foliant Taurus 530SF laminator that combines a feeder, laminator, and a sheet separator in a compact design. “The laminator we had before didn’t have an automatic feeder so it means we can complete bigger runs faster and more efficiently. We need just one reel of material for both B2 and B3 sheets and it is a lot easier to use. Before only one person could run the laminator now more people can competently use it.”
Mr Lewis concludes: “Some of the previous systems we had did not offer an upgrade path but now we look for manufacturers, like Horizon, that can offer us that.”
