Describe your business
We are a colour B2 and B3 litho and digital printer.
What does the machine do?
The MB Multimaster 38/4 is a heavy-duty fold unit, equipped with four fold plates with automatic deflectors. It is designed for the folding of creased litho and digital products from 60gsm up to 350gsm with a minimum sheet size of 80x150mm and a maximum sheet size of 380x900mm. The unit is mobile and easily integrated online to the Pit Stop creasing and perforating machine, so that cards up to 350gsm can be folded and creased in one pass. It is supplied with a 900mm-long register table, and the optional feed extension on the Pit Stop makes it possible to crease and fold a six-page A4 landscape sheet. A pulsed delivery table is also standard on the MB 38 fold unit.
Why did you buy this particular machine?
We were using a platen creaser. Our finishing staff were folding jobs like printed gallery cards and invitations by hand, which was very time consuming. When we bought local printer Red Ink, we inherited a Pit Stop creaser with an on-line small-format SRA3 MB 35 folder. It was a smaller two-plate folder that could only fold up to 250gsm. As most of Healeys’ work is 350gsm, we went back to Encore, who recommended the heavy-duty, four-plate, B3-format MB 38.
Did you look at any other similar machines?
No.
What features do you like?
It is so user-friendly we don’t need a specialist operator. Several of our staff can use it, thereby maximising its usage.
Is there anything that you dislike?
No.
How fast is it?
We operate it at up to 8,000sph.
Is there anything that you wish it had that it doesn’t?
We would like it to be faster but know that the new Pit Stop creaser with online MB folder can run at up to 11,000sph.
How reliable is it?
Very reliable. I can’t recall having to call out an engineer.
What’s the quality like?
Very good indeed.
How much time and money has it saved?
We have always done our folding and creasing in-house but it was taking half an hour to set up the platen creaser and another hour to crease 2,000 sheets. Added to that there was the hand folding. It was an endless task, particularly because we needed to turn the work round quite quickly. With decreasing run lengths it was not viable in the medium term. We now use the platen almost exclusively for die-cutting and have freed staff on the bench to do more productive things.
Has it won you any new work?
It would be difficult to say that it on its own has won us any new work, but the quality we are able to achieve both on our digital- and litho-finished products and the speed of turnaround have been instrumental in the number of repeat orders. Our strategy was to increase the number of gallery cards we printed and finished and this area of our business is buoyant. It’s an ideal combination for Healeys. We do a lot of creasing and folding, operating double day shifts. The MB 38 was an excellent investment because there is a huge difference between its performance and the MB 35s. We also operate it as a standalone folder for jobs like short-run six-page DL leaflets because the makeready is very fast. It works equally well on litho- and digitally printed stock.
Would you say it offers value for money?
Definitely. It will have paid for itself within two years.
Were there any difficulties during the installation or after?
None at all.
What about the pre- and after-sales service?
We’ve been delighted with the service from Encore. We subsequently bought a laminator from them and have been very pleased with that too.
Who do you think the machine is right for?
It can be used for a lot of litho and digital applications, making it suitable for any printer wanting to bring creasing, perforating and folding in-house or to increase the productivity of these processes by doing them in one pass.
CONCLUSION
User’s verdict
Speed 4/5
Quality 5/5
Reliability 5/5
Value for money 5/5
Supplier’s response
Mike Biggs, managing director of Encore Machinery, says: "Healeys Printers is a good example of how the Pit Stop with the online heavy-duty MB 38 folder can save time and improve makeready for a large printer while also offering a high-quality finish to a range of digital- and litho-printed products."
Price
For Pit Stop and MB folder: £29,790
Contact Encore Machinery 01582 562518
