The inserting line, believed to the first installed in the UK, was launched in September last year and can operate at speeds of up to 27,000 envelopes an hour. It can process documents in formats of 82x148mm to 356x225mm and handles envelope formats from C6 to B5.
Opus sales director Mark Hetem said: “We chose the Kern 3600 because we have a great desire to offer state-of-the-art technology that enhances our productivity.
“Volumes of mail packs are up 10%, page volumes are up 24% and with that we are seeing increased mail pack complexity.
“Mail packs now have more pages and more data-driven content. It’s what the clients are looking for, because of regulation. For example an energy company has to convey lots more information in its bill to comply with Ofgem’s guidelines.
"It’s a more complex product in the market as clients diversify their own offerings.”
Opus, which has a 7,900sqm facility in Leicester, has older Kern models in operation. Hetem said its existing technology matches the 3600 in terms of variability and speed. The benefit of the new buy, installed in June, for the company is in increased production as a result of automated calibration which helps keep downtime to a minimum.
“Kern’s latest high-speed unwinder and cutter is also a factor. As far as high-speed enclosing kit goes this has the right balance of components,” he added. “We considered other machines but the Kern was the best all-round in terms of the best criteria: speed, uptime, productivity, cost and purchase.”
Opus Trust Marketing prints and mails almost 8 million business-critical communications and delivers close to 2 million electronic documents each month on behalf of customers. It runs two Pitney Bowes Intellijet 20 inkjet webs, based on HP's T200, which print at 400ft a minute in full colour, two Canon Océ CS665 cut-sheet digital colour printers, one Océ ColorStream 10000 continuous feed machine, an Océ VarioPrint 5160 MICR and two Ricoh Pro 1357 mono cut-sheet printers.
The company has 150 staff. In April, it adopted the National Living Wage as a minimum pay rate, ahead of the policy becoming compulsory next year, following a period of double-digit growth.
Opus Trust is seeing “continued positive growth” according to Hetem, both from new business wins and organic growth of existing customers, and he expects growth to continue. In its last accounts for the financial year to 31 March 2014, the company reported a 13% rise in sales to £17.1m. Gross profit rose from £4.2m to £5.3m between 2012/13 and 2013/14.
Hetem added: “We as a business manage our capacity. Our strategy as a management team is never to exceed 75% or 80% of utilised capacity. We feel that we’re creeping up towards that. This is why we have approved an option to purchase additional machines later this year.”
