The investment at Nottingham digital print specialist Grange Print included a Konica Minolta digital machine and what is thought to be the UK’s first fully hydraulic guillotine of its kind.
Grange Print bought the Grafcut 52H guillotine to improve production of short-run personalised print, alongside a Konica Minolta bizhub and a Vivid Matrix laminator, which will enable the business to create foiling and spot UV effects on print.
The aim is to support the operation’s large-format service that counts national high-end brands among its portfolio of clients.
The Grafcut 52H from Terry Cooper Services went in three weeks ago and replaced an Ideal 4850 guillotine, while the bizhub with Ultrachrome ink replaced an Oki 9655 last week.
Grange Print managing director Paul Evans said: “We specialise in personalised production and large-format exhibition graphics and roller banners.
“The Ideal guillotine involved a lot of manual winding back and forth. With the new machine we can do a run of 100 A3 photo collages on card and just push the button; there's no handle-winding.”
The Grafcut has a maximum format of 520x520mm, cutting accuracy of 0.1mm of maximum paper stack of 80mm.
Features include a hydraulic drive for knife and clamp, a clamping-without-cutting option, clamping pressure adjustment and a four-inch monochrome touchscreen.
“We used to have to outsource lots of work for greetings, business and personalised cards but all this kit will enable us to bring it in house and save about £15,000,” Evans said.
Evans produces personalised print on a range of items, from cups and house signs to posters and advertising banners, on a range of litho and other digital equipment.
This includes two 1.6m-wide Mimakis for banners and vehicle wraps and two Roland Versa 640s and nine Canon 8400 machines for jobs including photo-quality canvas prints, of which Grange Print runs off about 2,000 a month.
Grange has a turnover of around £750,000, but Evans said he expects this latest investment to push it above £1m within a year.
“We have a well-established large-format digital print division with Rolands, Canons and Mimakis,” he explained.
“We wanted to support business with good fast-turnaround short-run print. I liked the ease of use and programmability of the Grafcut. We have a lot of traffic through our website for personalised print.
“And we need to ensure these are completed as quickly as possible to maximise our profitability. The Grafcut helps us get the work in and out.”
Evans said: “We expect all three systems to give us total payback in two to three years based on the volumes we are completing at the moment.”
