The fully automated, circa-£80,000 table arrived at the Pelaw, Tyne and Wear-based business yesterday (16 May) and joins two other identical devices that were installed in February and August last year. All three have replaced earlier, hand-fed Zünd devices.

The three Zünd S3 M1600s are specified with optional sheet-feeder and built-in camera and join a raft of other equipment, including Aristomat and Mimaki, at the firm’s 8,000sqm site.

“We wanted to expand our capabilities and because they are top-end machines and fully automated they do exactly that,” said business and customer relationship manager Denise Bainbridge.

“Our previous machines had to be handfed so these ones really improve our efficiency as they can basically be left to run, which frees up resources for us. It’s making a massive difference to our capacity and capability. We can turn work around much quicker and take on more complex work without it being more time consuming,” she explained.

Bainbrindge added that the decision to opt for built-in cameras meant that money was being saved through less wastage, because of the camera's ability to make automatic adjustments in the cutting area to compensate for any stretch or other changes in the subtrates. 

The 32-staff company specialises in traditional screen printing as well as digital production and produces vehicle branding, safety decals and labels primarily for the transport, construction, agriculture and caravan markets.

The company turns over around £2m annually and counts names such as JCB, Caterpillar and Fiat Group amongst its clients.