Improvements added to the range include new unwind units and spread rollers for some of the machines, all of which can laminate on material up to 600gsm, said UK and Ireland supplier Friedheim International. The fastest model laminates at 60m per minute.

"More printers are bringing laminating in-house to provide more flexibility in lead times and cost efficiencies," said Friedheim marketing manager Neil Elliott. "A number of enhancements will add features and benefits for commercial and digital print, packaging and converting applications."

The £15,255 entry-level Junior 36 features a new film unwinding unit and new spread roller with quick release for simpler removal. Its 'click' replacement de-curling bar has also been revamped on the 16m/min machine and now uses a turning knob instead of two levers for adjustments.

The 20m/min top-feeding Amiga 36 also boasts a new film unwinding unit and spread roller, with pneumatic accelerating pulleys for accurate feeding of extended sheets and a compact footprint, enabling it to be slotted through door widths of 900mm. It has a list price of £22,055.

Komfi's B2 Amiga 52 has a new overall design that can fit through 990mm-wide doorways, a new colour touchscreen control panel and additional reverse separating air blowers to prevent missfeeds. Maximum lamination speed is up to 25m/min and it costs £28,390.

Finally, the flagship B0-format Sirius 107 offers a sheet format of 1,070x1,450mm. It has a top speed of 60m/min and now features a "comfortable" de-curling bar adjustment using one turning knob instead of two levers and a pneumatically controlled skewing wheel to precisely define sheet skewing.

"The idea was to align our machines according to current trends. The improvements were not only to provide comparable or better performance than the competition, but also more laminating options, such as extended formats, digital print, print protection and software functions," said Elliott.