Manchester print group Entwistle has installed a Fujifilm Revoria PC1120 along with an inline booklet maker from Plockmatic, making it one of the very few UK printers with this set up.
Inline finishing is standard on machines for implant operation, but is relatively uncommon in commercial print where one booklet maker may service a number of presses. But the growing challenge of finding skilled staff and the cost of employing them is leading to a rethink.
Group managing director Jason Richards explains: “We could do a 305mm2 booklet made through the system, finished in one go, and it just worked. Previously, that’s a job that we’d have had to outsource, but now it’s produced in-house, giving us full production control.
“As soon as the press and finishing kit was installed, we started running applications through. The booklet maker’s slitting feature has been extremely useful for us as it automatically trims, square backs and staples in one go as it comes through. We’re getting beautiful looking booklets coming out with no issues.”
The press was initially specified with additional pink and white toners, but within weeks this was changed. “We won some new business that forced our hand,” he says. “That convinced us we had to have the silver as well.”
Entwistle operates four shops in the North with Bradford, Warrington and Preston alongside the Manchester head office. It offers large format for plan printing, posters and display graphics and working across events, education and rail sectors, supplying in-house equipment and materials as well as print.
The company had already had the potential to print with one additional colour, but running costs were increasing. Richards says: “When I did the numbers, it was a cost neutral scenario for us; it was almost a no-brainer. We could get the latest piece of kit, without increasing our costs, with no compromise to quality.”
The Revoria was supplied and is maintained by Jet Tech which provides workflow and business development help as well as the machinery itself. The business packaging includes access to Fujifilm’s Aspire programme to help customers sell and produce higher value work using the speciality colours available.
