Tonbridge general commercial printer Windsor Print has completed a two-year company-wide investment programme with the addition of IFS-supplied Horizon SPF/FC-200L bookletmaker capable of landscape feeding and a Foliant Vega 530 SF laminator.
The bindery equipment follows the addition of a Xerox iGen in 2014, a new website and a company rebrand. It produces work alongside two 5-colour Heidelberg SpeedMasters and a Jetrix wide format solution.
Stuart Maybury, Production director of the operation that specialises in fine art work and catalogues, explains: “The iGen replaced a Xerox 1000 that had some inline finishing. It also has the capability of landscape feeding. So, with the need to complete booklets plus the landscape ability, we decided it was time to invest in a new system.
“We looked at other options such as Morgana but liked the quality of the Horizon and its ease of use. One of the biggest attractions is the fact that Horizon offers a clear upgrade path. We know that as we grow there are systems that will support that.”
Capable of 4,500bph, the Horizon SPF/FC-200L, the first of its kind installed in the region, couples all the highly automated features of the successful SPF/FC200A bookletmaker with 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 reason for the investment in lamination was similar and Maybury expands: “We had a small desktop system that was a manual process and labour intensive. This meant we were outsourcing a lot of the work. The investment has given us more control.”
The 18 m/min Foliant Vega 530SFis a new generation of easy available very compact industrial laminating machines, designed for a heavy duty in house lamination of digital and offset outputs (max. format 53 x 75 cm), with an integrated deep pile vacuum feeder and a high speed bump separator, in-run adjustable twin decurl bar and overlap system. Due to its pneumatic high pressure system, format and performance the machine is suitable for all jobs – all kinds of digital printed sheets.
As for ROI Maybury says: “We were outsourcing which meant waiting times and additional cost for sending the work out. Our van drivers were spending a lot of their time collecting the work. Now one driver spends some time working in the bindery. We are saving money and have greater control over the work we can complete. We have greater control. It has been a good move.”
