The machine arrived on site on 31 March and according to Elle Media managing director James Cuthbert has already started making a difference in productivity.
The guillotine joins a Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 106 press, installed last year.
Cuthbert said: “We had two slightly more antiquated Polar guillotines. But we have a Speedmaster 106 now and have seen the huge productivity improvement you can get from the right equipment and the benefits this can have. We needed more cutting capacity and it was obvious the equipment we had wasn’t adequate."
The Polar N 137 Pro comes with a stacker, jogger and Transomat unloader. Its cutting width is 1,370mm and feed depth is 1,450mm. It is now connected up with the company’s Tharstern MIS.
Cuthbert decided to buy the Polar guillotine after staging an event in the Elle Media offices and hosting delegates from Heidelberg and Danish print company Lasertryk.
He said: “We presented on automation and productivity and Lasertryk sent a team to learn about what we were doing and whilst they were here they gave us back advice on the guillotine side.”
According to Cuthbert, while the purchase of the guillotine won’t lead to Elle Media taking on any new staff, one of the skilled operators previously operating the guillotines has been redistributed to other areas where he can be better utilised. An apprentice has taken over in his place.
Cuthbert added: “We have got one machine doing the job of two and we are starting to overachieve already. We just need to work on the more minute detail to push productivity even further. It is doing really well.”
Basildon, Essex-based Elle Media Group employs 50 staff, working in 7,620sqm offices. It turned over approximately £6.5m in 2015 and has seen what Cuthbert described as an “aggressive rise” in turnover over the last four years.
Elle is a general commercial printer, printing small-format items from catalogues to takeaway menus. Approximately 20% of its revenue comes through printing greetings cards.
Other than the guillotine and Speedmaster, it has two MBO folders, a Muller Martini stitching line, a Kora-Packmat greetings cards packing machine and a Heidelberg Original Cylinder press.
