Winning new worked prompted Lincoln printer Ruddocks to invest in an IFS-supplied Foliant Mercury 530 SF laminator.

Managing director of the 130-year-old B2 commercial printer Paul Banton explains: “We won a contract to produce between 30 and 50 short run orders every day. It can be up to as much as 1,000 sheets. It is a direct mail job and the files arrive in the morning and have to be completed by the end of the day or the next morning.

“We had a mix of inhouse and external lamination capabilities. That had worked out well for quite a long time but then we got this new work that had to be completed very quickly so outsourcing was not a possibility. We weighed up the return on investment and decided we needed more automated lamination in house.”

As for making the decision about the 25 m/min Foliant Mercury 530SF he says: “We looked at three or four laminators but liked Foliant for a number of reasons. It is quick and easy to set up, has an automatic feed, the ability to handle different weights and an excellent build quality.”

He adds: “We also know and trust IFS so that if there was ever a need for assistance we knew they would respond very quickly.”

The Foliant Mercury 530SF is 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.

The impact was felt immediately says Banton: “It has created a huge reduction in man hours. We used to have someone laminating all day every day now it is just two hours in the morning.

“We are no longer up against it towards the end of the day. It also gives us peace of mind that we won’t let customers down.”

Pic: L-R Adam Bratley, operator and Ady Potter, production manager with the Foliant Mercury 530 SF laminator