Joining a wide tech portfolio at its Huddersfield plant, Adare SEC took delivery of the machine for beta testing in October last year and has been preparing it to work alongside its Hunkeler CS6 finishing line, supporting an increase in capacity for its finishing, digital print and enclosing departments.

The new CS8, bought from distributor Friedheim International for just over £400,000, went into full production at the plant in January, and Friedheim will continue to provide support and upgrades for the machine across the year. It has been sheeting down secure documents offline with reduced levels of waste, achieving more than 2 million forms per day.

“With the CS8, we are able to support our existing kit and further ensure there is no point of failure in our workflow,” said production manager Steve Davis. “We have adjusted our work stream in order to generate more capacity, now doing things roll-to-roll.

“Having used the CS6 for the past 18 months running at 153m/min, I was intrigued at the possibility that Hunkeler could put together a machine that could run any faster, and as it turns out they succeeded with the CS8 going up to 180m/min.

“An exciting aspect of the machine is the fact it is modular and can be personalised to our needs, which is something we have not explored so far but will see where that goes.”

Hunkeler’s CS8 length- and cross-cutter takes a maximum roll diameter of 1.3m and a web width ranging from 150-520mm. Its variable cut-out capabilities range from 6.3-50mm to produce full-bleed documents. It can be equipped with two knives for variable chip-out or one cutting knife and one perforating blade for dynamic fold perforations.

Adare SEC’s Huddersfield site employs 260 staff, including 170 in manufacturing, out of a total just short of 500 across the group. The entire operation turns over £80m.