Growth Leads To Further Paper Coating Investment

After what it described as three years' unprecedented sales growth, Smith and McLaurin has bought a specialty coating machine that will be installed at the company's Kilbarchan Plant in Scotland.

After what it described as three years' unprecedented sales growth, Smith and McLaurin has bought a specialty coating machine that will be installed at the company's Kilbarchan Plant in Scotland.

The company, which manufactures coated papers for variable information printing applications, has acquired the new machine to enable an increase in its output.

The coater will be installed to satisfy customer demands for products required by companies in the promotional and marketing goods markets, whilst also enabling an extension of the company's current range of products for the personal care markets.

The machine, named 'Caledonian', can coat up to 1,530mm, works exclusively with water-based adhesives and has a coating system that enables the production of coat-weights from 3gsm to 30gsm.

Customers will also benefit from flexible and changeable strip coating patterns that can be altered without significant downtime or cost due to the technology utilised to produce strip-coat adhesives for dry peel applications and also on standard permanent and peelable grades, said the company.

The machine will also allow low volume output to be supplied as standard.

The development will enable Smith and McLaurin to produce a range of materials including 'self-wound' and the facility to produce more clear face materials including 'clear-on-clear' that is high in demand for the personal care markets, amongst others, added the company.

Commenting on this investment, Colin Gault, the company's managing director said: "This major investment is deeply significant and underpins our reputation and commitment to innovation.

Our customers are hungry for new and exciting products and the 'Caledonian' gives us the flexibility and capability to manufacture specialty products efficiently and economically." He added: "Some of the new products planned are 'Positively Different', which reflects our company culture, to provide our customers with distinct advantages for their benefit.

Our experienced workforce work tirelessly with customers on improving quality and service and this investment has a great deal to do with their success in these important areas.".

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