Sometimes, playing the waiting game can pay off. Post-press manufacturer Rollem’s heritage is in the high-volume market, which is dominated by litho. But over the past few years, that has changed thanks to the improvements in digital print, both in terms of quality and, crucially, run length. As a result, Rollem now finds itself in a new sector, according to managing director Stuart Murphy.

Digital is a market that has come to us, he says. We’ve found a niche and in the past 18 months, digital has become big business – we have found a competitive edge. We’ve always been able to support niche markets like high-volume business cards or greetings cards. Now the digital market overlaps with litho and we’ve seen an opportunity.

The swing to digital has helped Rollem to become a specialist in playing cards and business cards. It handles other applications, but these two examples have helped bolster the manufacturer’s claim that it can succeed in niche markets.

Ipex may have been a watershed moment for the digital finishing sector in general, and one of the stars on Rollem’s stand was the JetStream II, unveiled at the show with a host of new upgrades. The JetStream II is described by Rollem as the ultimate finishing system for digital printing. It has the ability to carry out a host of jobs from slitting and trimming to scoring and perforating. It’s this versatility that Rollem says has made it one of its most popular products.

All our machines are suitable for either digital or offset, adds Murphy. This machine’s size and flexibility lends it to digital and shorter runs.

Built to last

There’s certainly a market for the machine. Murphy says that interest ranges from the specialist finishing houses to start-up, on-demand printers – a growing market in the post-press sector. It’s a sector that’s moving its finishing in-house to cope with ever-shortening lead times. Digital printers are finding that the latest generation of finishing kit is suiting their needs thanks to enhanced automation – the JetStream II is no different, according to Murphy.

The main feature is its durability, he says. It’s constructed to last a long time and set-up is the skill of the machine, not the operator. When you have the right application it’s a very productive machine.

Capable of handling runs of 500-1,000, the JetStream II is targeted at the mid- to top-end of the sector. It comes in a range of configurations that enables users to slit, trim, gutter-slit, perforate, micro-perforate, score, collate or stream feed and semi-slit depending on requirements. It can run at speeds of 6,000 sheets per hour and Murphy adds that the productivity levels assist the user that has an element of urgency in the work they carry out.

It can go from printed sheet to finished product in one pass, he says. We’re trying to give the user flexibility. They can jump from post cards to greetings cards very quickly. If there’s an element of urgency in a job then that’s when you need fast productivity.

Precision cutting

Settings are programmed into Rollem’s SpeedSet system; the unit is designed to be operated by one person. Job change-overs can take around two to three minutes and the number of cutting blades can also be changed. These are 175mm in diameter and, according to Murphy, users can incorporate as many as they wish. In addition, the JetStream incorporates Rollem’s new JetSlit blades designed to enhance accuracy.

The blades on the machine have to be big and rigid, he adds. It has to be precise. For example, in the playing card market this is very important – accuracy is vital to combat card sharks.

Unlike conventional guillotines, the JetSlit system uses rotary technology to cut. The result is a more precise edge, less waste and faster productivity. In addition, Rollem says that this eliminates marking or crushing problems on work that has been thermographed or embossed.

The JetStream can handle stock sizes from 140x125mm up to 712x762mm and weights from 100-700gsm. Options include a pallet loading deep-pile feeder, which has a pile height of up to 948mm, and an automatic collator.

Murphy adds that another benefit of the machine is its ability to finish 25 business cards on a SRA3 sheet. He adds that conventional guillotines normally have a maximum of 16 or 20 cards. The JetStream is able to achieve this because of its 0.8mm gutter slit and a 1.6mm bleed. This extra 20% brings you more bang for your buck, says Murphy.

Rollem claims that maintaining the JetStream II is straightforward. It can be easily done by anyone and you’d probably need to do maintenance every three to four months, says Murphy.

In addition, the machine is fitted with a shingle conveyor, although Murphy says that the JetStream II can be a operated as a standalone, nearline or inline device – it can be attached to a digital press. The earlier incarnation of the JetStream was a big hit with the digital market, according to Murphy, who adds that one customer attached it to the end of an HP Indigo press.

Bells and whistles

At Ipex, Rollem was focusing on SRA3 formats and Murphy says that the device is Fuji ready – meaning the JetStream II is capable of handling work from Fuji’s JetPress inkjet machine that will soon be commercially rolled out.

He sees the JetStream II as going head-to-head with Duplo in the digital finishing market, the closest rival being the 645 slitter-cutter-creaser. Duplo claims that its product is being used for a surprising number of applications and Rollem’s JetStream II is no different. While it has carved a niche for playing cards, other applications include postcards, photo albums, point of sale brochures and direct mail. One job that was produced on the Ipex stand was laminated and varnished postcards, printed eight to view.

The JetStream II is priced at £75,000 and is a device for a user that likes to have all the bells and whistles, according to Murphy. A similar machine in Rollem’s range is the Champion II, which costs £18,000, but this machine features substantially less automation. Existing JetStream II customers can have their systems upgraded.

Currently, 70% of Rollem machines are installed in the US and the company hopes that its Ipex showing will open up the UK market. With the digital market set to expand further, the sector’s dominance in the halls of Ipex suggests that post-press manufacturers can capitalise on this growth. More printers in this sector are moving finishing in-house and have to cope with rising volumes as digital presses churn out more work and faster. And with its experience in the higher end of the market, Rollem is well placed to capitalise on a sector that is now coming good.

SPECIFICATIONS

Contact Rollem 0114 246 8981 www.rollem.com

Caslon Zip 21C

The Zip 21C is a SRA3 slitter-cutter-creaser machine that targets a number of markets, from high-street print shops to larger-scale digital print operations. While it’s a smaller machine, the Zip 21C isn’t limited to just business cards. It’s a SRA3 device that feeds printed sheets through slitting wheels, which cut the sheet into strips. A cross cutter then cuts those strips into rectangles. The standard machine comes with four cutters producing three strips. An upgrade to its predecessor, the Zip 21, this machine has a touchscreen controller and a higher rate of production.

Duplo DC-645e

Launched in 2006, the 645 was updated last year. Essentially a slitter-creaser-cutter, the product has surprised Duplo in terms of the wide range of applications that it is being used for. Alongside the traditional business cards market, the machine has also been used for finishing card sleeves to go around sandwich packaging as well as mini-calendars, flyers and wine labels. Its versatility has been enhanced with the integrated folding system (IFS), which can be bolted onto the end of the DC-645 and its sister machine, the DC-445. The five IFS modules are folder, straight conveyor, cross conveyor, short stacker and long stacker. In addition, the upgraded DC-645e incorporates Duplo’s ‘e tandem’ service. In fully automatic mode, a register mark and a barcode at the top of the sheet can be scanned enabling the machine to automatically adjust the slitting devices and the two knives for cutting, plus the creaser. Once fed through, up to six functions can be operated in one pass.

Morgana Card Xtra

Another smaller alternative to the JetStream is the Morgana Card Xtra. It uses the concept of pre-set drop-in cutting cassettes for different job types with a range of eight pre-set cassettes plus one user-configurable cassette.