Reading-based Chroma had previously been using a hand-fed laminator but required a device to help it deal with the lamination of longer run digital work and litho work; jobs that had previously been outsourced to a trade finisher.

Supplied by Intelligent Finishing Systems and installed at the end of March, the Foliant was chosen following a recommendation from a member of staff that had used one in another company and a review of various alternatives on the market.

The 18m/min B3 laminator has an integrated deep-pile vacuum feeder and a high-speed bump separator, with non-sticky pressure roller and in-run adjustable twin decurl bar and overlap system.

The Multi-functional Inprinting Unit applies foil or spot varnish to a pre-printed black toner and the sheet can then be reprinted mono or four-colour. It runs a wide range of colours including gold, silver, red and green as well as a clear gloss for spot varnish.

“The Foliant had the right balance of price and performance to meet our requirements. It was the only laminator we looked at that ran at anything like its advertised speed,” said Chroma operations director Justin Earl.

“Being able to bring longer runs in-house has enabled us to deal with ever decreasing lead-times. As a result, we expect return on investment in less than 30 months.”

Earl also reported a smooth installation process, with “no impact on ordering and training aside from observing social distancing measures”.

23 staff work at £2.8m-turnover Chroma, which also operates an RMGT (Ryobi) litho press, an HP Indigo 7900 digital press, Roland DG wide-format kit and a raft of finishing equipment.