The N92 Plus with the Compucut intelligent cutting system has just been installed at the Templeborough, Rotherham-based company’s premises while the BH 56 is due to be installed in the new year.
The purchases have been made to supplement the company’s recent investment in a Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 75-4+L. The business has now invested a total of £2.5m over the past 12 months.
The N92 Plus has a knife speed of 45 cycles/min and a cutting width and feeding depth of 920mm. The automated BH 56 buckle folder is easy to operate and supports rapid set-up.
“As a ganging printer the fully automated Compucut was vital and so far has increased our efficiency and throughput,” said channel manager Jack Wilmott.
“The larger throat compared to our previous cutter also speeds up the rate we can get jobs through finishing. It has both turnaround and cost benefits.
“Everybody we have spoken to said they would never use any other model once they had switched to Polar. I think we now understand where they are coming from.”
The switch from Horizon machinery to the Stahlfolder was based on an employee recommendation and, after carrying out further research, the firm’s management decided it would be the right move.
“We are placing great emphasis on process control and this purchase fed into that. A buckle machine will allow us to achieve faster output and to handle a lot more book work and thicker stocks. Pressure on our existing combination folder has been growing,” said Wilmott.
“We will be more competitive on 5,000 to 10,000 runs and on lighter stocks and this will be of particular benefit with takeaway menus, a key web-to-print market. It means we will attain more output and won’t need to command the same margin per job to remain profitable on that machine.”
The business, which offers litho, digital and wide-format services, also operates additional Heidelberg equipment as well Komori and Xerox machinery. It has also recently installed an HP Scitex FB10000 for its wide-format work.
“The market is moving away from the digital vs litho debate and the online market is maturing. Web-to-print players need to develop the user experience. It’s a bit of a race for arms and efficiency at the moment,” said Wilmott.
“The companies that win at the end of the day are the ones that go above and beyond the competition in terms of usability and benefits they can deliver through their websites as well as finding a suitable balance between service level and automation.”
Route One Print was established last year as the web-to-print arm of Bluetree Design & Print. It produces items including flyers, booklets, business cards, posters, leaflets, roller banners and stickers for customers including print resellers, copy shops and marketing and design agencies.
