East Kilbride printer Core Image has installed a Heidelberg Versafire digital press, complementing this with a Horizon StitchLiner 5500 from IFS.
The £200,000 brings the new capacity to a business that runs a five-colour Speedmaster 52 and older digital equipment, but where finishing was dependent on an ageing Setmasters collator. The leap in productivity is significant.
“The Setmaster was long overdue for replacement,” says managing director David Hunter. “Upgrading was pushed back in the last couple of years as we invested in other areas of the business but this year we vowed to bring our finishing up to date. We looked at a few options but liked the StitchLiner because of its inline three-knife trimming, creasing, folding and ease of set up.
“The StitchLiner was definitely the way to go. It is a fantastic machine and is making such a difference already. Before installation we had one job which took nearly two days with, at one stage, four people involved. On the StitchLiner it was finished in one hour. In terms of productivity, sanity – mine and everyone else’s – it was a no brainer.”
The investment in stitching has been followed by installation of a Versafire CV digital press from Heidelberg. It is configured as a five-colour machine. “The larger format and the option to add white or clear in addition to the four process colours gave this press added value to us,” says Hunter. The press will run with Heidelberg’s DFE and is profiled to match output on the Speedmaster allowing the company to opt to produce on either machine.
It also integrates easily into the Prinect set up that the company has and which was upgraded two years ago when it added the Suprasetter platesetter. The Versafire has replaced a Konica Minolta machine.
The bottleneck in the finishing department has now disappeared and the company has gained capacity to take on more print work in a year when it celebrates 25 years in business.
“The StitchLiner has already made a huge difference, both in productivity and quality of the finished product,” says Hunter. “It will pay for itself very quickly.”
The installation comprises collating tower, AF30 accumulator before scoring and plow folding, stitching and into the three-knife trimmer. “We used to have bottleneck in the binder and now we don’t,” he says simply. “Our operation is now more effective.”
Core Image has become one of 200 printers using the Horizon StitchLiner in the UK. It has, says the company, solved major bottleneck issues in finishing.
