Leeds Based Printer Upgrades Card Creasing Machines & Laminating Machines

Posted on – 18th August 2017

A family owned print business which formed in 1981 to support the automotive industry with marketing and advertising materials approached The Finishing Point for help in streamlining their production and quality with automated machinery. The company aimed to improve strategy, design and development by introducing in-house print capability for all areas of print including branding signage, wide format POS and full colour digital prints utilising a Konica Bizhub print engine.

The Issue 

• Production bottlenecks
• Low quality of folded cards
• Slow and labour Intensive laminating machines
• Laminating work would often peel off
• Poor quality of laminated products
• New digital press opens up new print streams but their finishing machines were outdated
• No ability to add value to current customer base
• No option to perforate or produce tear off coupons which are becoming a big part of their business

The Challenge

• To increase productivity without staff recruitment
• To add value to what is already a high end product
• To keep the operation simple and efficient
• To assist in new market exposure whilst creating new revenue avenues for the company to exploit

The Solution

Having installed an Ideal 7260 Paper Guillotine at the site in 2016, we had a good understanding of what the print team where trying to achieve with the new digital print engine. You could see clearly on that initial sale that once the new print engine was installed and up and running that the remaining finishing equipment was going to slow the production back down. We also realised that everything is about timing within their market place. So, to correctly exploit the market in the most positive way, we needed a solution that could be implemented at short notice and with the minimum amount of fuss.

Arrangements were made for an Obeli 335 to be taken along for a demonstration to show off the versatility of these machines. Having already discussed the need for card creasing machines and perforating, we knew that the EasiCrease was the obvious choice as it offers both in one compact, easy to use foot print. The demonstration was more of an install as within 10 minutes it was clear that this was the machine for them.

The companies laminating issues were also easily addressed with our online video presentations along with high quality samples that we took along to the demonstration to show off the Foiling and Spot Laminating effects they can quickly and easily produce in-house with one of our digital laminating machines. Going from very small desktop roll laminators to the Q-Topic has instantly removed a huge bottleneck in the production line whilst adding value with the latest foiling and sleeking effects.

• New Obeli 335
• Cross Perforation Bar (24 Tpi) for Obeli Auto
• Two Rotary Perforation Tools (24 Tpi) to enable bi-directional perforation in a single pass, a must for the tear off coupons
• New Q-Topic 380 Pneumatic Laminator + Foils

The Outcome

At The Finishing Point, we are very proud of our ability to provide the customer with a professional and reliable solution, helping to improve their production and operations internally. Below is a brief breakdown of some of the most notable outcomes of the project:

• The company achieved streamlined production with automated machinery and could now produce higher quality cards & new folded business cards
• For the first time the company could complete perforating functions in-house
• The automated card creasing machine enabled faster transfers from flat sheets to the finished product
• Laminated quality was vastly improved with zero adhesion issues
• The introduction of foiling and sleeking functions also enabled the company to reach new revenue streams
• A print room that can be operated by a single operator if needed
• Finally, we were left with one happy team!

Customer Comments

“We knew our last experience with TFP for the paper guillotine was smooth sailing and they have looked after us for the past twelve months without fail. It was an obvious choice to go back and ask their advice once again for another investment into digital finishing. Excellent service, Quality Products, Reliable Service Backup and the right advice, oh & Chris is always able to put a deal together”

Upgrade your Card Creasing Machines or Laminating machines Today!

Investing in new equipment could help you to significantly increase the quality of the products that you produce whilst also allowing you to successfully target new markets. So, if you’re interested in upgrading your print facilities with a new card creasing machine or a new digital laminating machine which incorporates foiling and sleeking, please do not hesitate to contact us today, we offer free demonstrations at our showroom and we also have a team of experts on hand who can answer any questions that you may have.  As the UK’s premier specialist in print finishing and consumables, we supply and install only the very best equipment which helps our customers to do deliver an exceptional service.