The machines, which the Southend-on-Sea firm bought from Intelligent Finishing Systems (IFS), were installed in November.
“We have had a Kodak NexPress for three years and interest in digital short-run work is increasing,” said managing director Jeff Chaplin.
“We have a Muller Martini saddlestitcher, but it’s not practical for small runs of around 50 or a couple of hundred so we needed something to handle the faster turnaround shorter run digital jobs more efficiently and cost effectively.”
The firm chose the 4,500bph Horizon SPF/FC-200 as it is JDF-ready and offers instant set-ups via a large icon-based colour touchscreen. The screen can be used for on-the-run fine tune adjustments as well as storage and recall of up to 200 jobs.
“We had been looking around for a while at what was on the market but liked the Horizon for a number of reasons. One of the main ones being that it takes a flat sheet and turns it into a booklet; there is no separate folding,” said Chaplin.
“Manually this would have taken us time before, now the jobs can be completed so much faster. This saves us time and frees up staff to work on other jobs. It is quick, easy to use and does everything we wanted it to do.”
The B3 Foliant Vega 400 laminator, which is capable of 18mpm, was added to replace a hand-fed laminator.
“This was a much faster decision and a no brainer. We saw it in operation at Print Efficiently and it is quick and cost-effective. Now a job that was taking half a day takes just an hour or so,” said Chaplin.
“Both investments were about increasing automation to improve throughput and production speed. This makes the whole operation much smoother and enables us to profitably take on more short-run work.”
“I’ve looked at a few other alternatives in the past but I was quite happy with the deal that IFS did for me on both machines and I’ve bought other equipment from the company in the past and been pleased with it. The Horizon kit has a good name and I don’t want to have to replace the equipment any time soon.”
Urban Design and Print also operates two five-colour Heidelberg Speedmaster presses; a 72 and a 74, Xerox digital kit, an Agfa Anapurna UV flatbed and Roland and Epson wide-format machinery.
The firm, which employs 30 staff and has a turnover of £3m, produces a wide variety of print including posters, flyers, leaflets, banners, stationery and business cards for clients ranging from local businesses to blue chip companies.
