The Stockport-based print and finishing house took delivery of the machine at the start of September for an investment circa £125,000. It replaces an old Shoei folder completely, while also taking over a portion of work from a Shoei SPK 74 machine that remains onsite.
It will be largely working on casebound hardback books, which make up the “backbone” of Deanprint’s operations, according to production director Kevin Lee.
“With the K80’s increased number of folding stations, we can double our previous output,” he said. “The slitter shaft [cassette] was a deal breaker for us as it saves time while making ready and helps to extend the life of the rollers.
“It is part of a continued investment over the past eight years which has seen us take a key piece of finishing kit each year alongside a number of other smaller investments. This completes a full round of enhancing our finishing departments.
“We considered a lot of other options, including all the Heidelberg offerings, but we have been buying equipment from Friedheim since 2013 and the new MBO lets us bring in-house a lot of folding work that we were sending out. We can offer all finishing under one roof.”
The MBO K80 folder is a B1 combination folder with cross-fold and three-fold capabilities, running at speeds up to 230m/min. The slitter shaft can be quickly removed and re-installed to aid both parallel folding and three-fold, contributing to a reduction in setup time up to 60%.
It is part of a finishing portfolio at Deanprint that comprises 126 pieces of kit representing all-round finishing capabilities – recent investments have included a Wohlenberg Quickbinder, an Aster Pro52 sewer and a Kolbus casemaker.
Established in 1890, the firm operates in three key markets – government contracts, traditional print finishing and educational resource production. Lee hopes that the introduction of the productive MBO machine will increase the amount of contract folding jobs Deanprint can take on.
Plans for the firm’s future include potentially enhancing its wiro-binding department, though Lee said the MBO represented an end to Deanprint’s investment cycle which may lead to looking for enhancements for kit bought at the start of the period.
Deanprint turns over just less than £3m and employs 42 members of staff on 4,645sqm premises.
