75% Productivity Boost From Automated Folder

A productivity boost of 75 per cent has been achieved by Preston City Council's Print Unit in the UK after it installed an automated Horizon B2 touch-folding system.

Supplied by Graphic Arts Equipment (GAE), the new Horizon folder replaced a 12-year-old folder.

The 35,000 sheets per hour (sph) six-buckle plate, Horizon AFC-546Ajdf combination system has an icon-based touch-screen control with 200 job memory and it features folding rollers with a combination of steel and urethane foam rubber for grip and a claimed sharp fold.

GAE said that the new system fitted smoothly in to the bindery at Preston City Council and because of the Horizon's claimed simplicity of set-up, the inplant unti's staff is now able to tackle more complex folds with confidence.

With 17 fold patterns, including roll fold, zigzag and DL, programmed as standard the minders have not yet met any problems, added GAE.

Reprographics manager at Preston City Council's Print Unit, Bernard Albin, said: "We are getting this massive increase in throughput because the Horizon needs so little downtime between jobs and it's faster than our previous machine so it can handle longer runs, too.

Added to that it has integral perforating and scoring and what used to take us four hours to do now takes only 60 minutes." Albin added: "Our Morgana folder was coming to the end of its life and we wanted a more heavy-duty machine so we could regularly fold 170gsm stock.

We looked at the specification of the automated Horizon AFC against Heidelberg's Stahl but what we could get for the price was no comparison.

You get a lot more for your money with the Horizon." And he continued to explain: "As a result we now have perforating and scoring.

Before, if we didn't send it out, it was done manually in-house, so it saves us hours and reduces our costs.

We've only used half a day of the allocated training so far and because the machine is so easy to use we haven't had any problems at all." He commented that the Print Unit may make more use of the training on offer but it was so easy to set-up the Horizon system using the touch screen that he and his staff had not needed any more time with the GAE trainers.

It is not the first time the Preston operation has chosen GAE supplied equipment.

Three years ago a SPF20A booklet production line was added to the bindery's equipment stable.

Albin said: "We know what we are going to get from GAE and that makes the investment easier." The Preston City Council Print Unit primarily produces four colour corporate litho print including brochures and leaflets on a B3 Heidelberg Speedmaster press.

However, it also runs Canon CLC51 digital copiers and a mono Info Tech machine.

Albin commented: "At the moment most of what we do is litho work.

About 30 per cent is digital and we will be reviewing that balance in the near future.".

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