"We were subbing out so much lamination work that we decided it made good sense to upgrade our in-house laminating capability," said managing director of CCG Giles Bowes.
The Autobond Micro 52 was installed at the Stansted-based digital printing business two weeks ago and, according to Bowes, the company has already seen improvements in production.
"It’s really transformed our capacity and production time in the factory. Already we’ve been able to maintain control and laminate a number of jobs ourselves," he said.
The automatic laminator replaces a handfed D&K Pegasus machine, increasing capacity from 250 sheets per hour to 2,000. It can laminate both sides simultaneously, whereas the D&K could only laminate one side at a time.
CCG spotted the £30,000 machine at Drupa last year and purchased one of the built-to-order machines. Only a few have currently been manufactured.
"It’s a bit more expensive than its competitors but we looked at a whole range of laminators suitable for the digital market and nothing came close to what it could deliver," said Bowes.
Bowes is confident CCG will get a return on the investment within 18 months. CCG is also sourcing its laminating film from Autobond.
