The CRF-362 was installed in November and the SPF-200A followed at the turn of the year. Both machines were supplied by Intelligent Finishing Systems (IFS) and were installed at ProCo’s Stansted facility.
The move follows the firm’s earlier investment in two Horizon BQ-270V single-clamp perfect binders, one for Stansted and one for its Sheffield site, which was already using the Horizon StitchLiner 5500 with four VAC-1000 collators to complement its stitching capacity.
ProCo production director Graeme Parry said the company decided to invest in the CRF-362 because an older machine it had been using was proving unreliable.
“To avoid any detriment to our quality or service to our customers, we looked for an alternative,” he said.
“We chose the Horizon CRF-362 for its build quality and operator-friendly interface, and the ongoing service contracts are also more reasonable. Its reliability means we can work to tighter deadlines knowing the machine won’t let us down.”
ProCo’s SPF-200A bookletmaker has been specified with the HOF-400 digital feeder and TBC-200L top and bottom cutter.
“Our previous stitching line was struggling with the demand of short-run booklet work and was beginning to cause issues meeting the demands of our clients,” said Parry.
“The SPF-200A with the three-knife trimmer means work can bypass the guillotine taking one process out, which makes it much more efficient reducing any bottlenecks around the guillotines.”
The barcode reader on this machine also enables the firm to deliver greater security measures for its customers.
“We can now confidently deal with data critical work and get full verification on each booklet that’s stitched,” said Parry.
“We can then pass that data onto the client. Unlike our Sheffield site where there are three individual stitching lines, at Stansted we needed to invest in a single, reliable well-built machine, which will see us through the next 10 years and possibly beyond.”
ProCo has also just installed a second RMGT Ryobi LED-UV press, quickly following the first, which went in last summer.
The firm also runs four HP Indigos across its two sites, including a 10000, and two Agfa Anapurnas on the large-format side, both of which were installed last summer.
The 142-staff company is tracking turnover of around £16m for its current financial year.
